For the love of art
by Immortal Spud Thief
Summary: Multi-chaptered. One person has a love of art that is taken to the extream as Harry, Nikki and Leo find out. Now rated M just because I'm paraniod.
1. Chapter 1

I smiled as I ran the paintbrush over the canvas in front of me, my mind was set on this one piece as it always was when I painted or drew. I glanced up at my subject and gave them a small smile before looking back at the canvas and adding another line of colour to my already colourful work. I sighed in delight as I leant back against the chair and folded my arms observing the finished canvas before me. Nodding to myself I then reached for the rag of material next to the easel and ran my paintbrushes through the already dirty material to try and get the excess paint off before placing them in a cup of white spirit to wash them even more. Standing up I then walked over to the subject of my most recent painting and leant forward so I was inches from their eyes.

"All finished" I whispered and smiled at them.

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"What are your plans for the weekend?" Harry asked Nikki as they both walked through the car park towards their respective cars after their shift on a Friday evening "Meeting any unsuitable men?" he tried not to sound bitter when he said this and knew he had succeeded when Nikki turned to him and smiled.

"Not this weekend no" she shook her head "I did last weekend though"

Harry chuckled when he heard this, they had spend the previous Saturday together at another air show, this time actually getting back to their homes safely without any more helicopter crashes. Harry leant back against his car and crossed his arms over his chest as he observed Nikki leaning on her own car.

"We can spend it together" he shrugged, trying to sound noncommittal when he said this "I enjoyed last weekend"

"So did I" Nikki replied and gave him a smile which made his heart do a happy jump in his chest "What do you have in mind?"

"Cinema?" Harry suggested and started to fiddle nervously with his car keys, he was never this nervous when asking other women out 'Wait' he thought 'It's not a date' 'Unfortunately' another part of his mind whispered "You said you haven't been in a while and there's a few good films on at the moment and well..."

"I'd like that" Nikki nodded and unlocked her car before opening the door and turning back to Harry "I'll get in touch with the details"

"Okay" Harry nodded "See you soon"

Nikki gave him another nod and climbed into her car before backing out of her parking space and driving off after giving Harry a wave. Harry then let out a long breath and unlocked his own car, this would be two weekends in a row he had spent with Nikki, that was dangerously close to having some sort of social life. He had to remind himself however that they were only going out as friends, there was, and would be, nothing going on between them.

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"Come on Harry it's Nikki for crying out loud" Harry muttered to himself as he ran his hand through his hair making it stand up at odd angles "She doesn't care what you wear as long as you don't turn up naked...now there's a thought" he chuckled to himself and shook his head as the doorbell rang. He felt like he was going on his first date, his mind hadn't caught up with the fact that it wasn't even a date. Harry ran his hand through his hair once again as he walked out of his bedroom and down the stairs and grinned as he opened the door to Nikki. His throat when dry when he saw what she was wearing, a red blouse that highlighted her frame perfectly, a knee length straight black skirt, black tights and black heeled shoes.

"Hi" he croaked out and cleared his throat as he opened the door further and allowed Nikki to enter his house, as she walked past she greeted him and gave him the smile that made him melt and when she had gone into the living room he closed the door behind her and leant his forehead on the cool wood and groaned. How he was going to get through the whole day without doing anything he would regret he didn't know, but he knew he had to.

His home phone suddenly rang and he walked into the living room to answer it stealing a sneaky glance at Nikki as he did so.

"Hello?"

"_Harry it's Leo"_ came Leo's voice down the phone and Harry bit back a groan as he knew what was coming _"You couldn't come in could you?"_

Harry sighed loudly and ran one hand over his face as Nikki turned to him and mouthed 'what?'. 'Leo' he mouthed back and Nikki slumped slightly and sighed.

"I..um..." he looked to Nikki who just nodded and he could have killed Leo at that moment when he saw the disappointment in Nikki's eyes "Yeah okay"

"_Good" _Leo replied, he seemed oblivious that he had just interrupted something _"I'm asking Nikki to come in as well, I think you'll like this case"_

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**Half term next week! Whoo! XD So I will be able to get on with writing this fanfic.**

**xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

Harry and Nikki just stared at the two bodies in front of them with something that looked like fascination on their faces. Harry cocked his head to one side slightly and raised an eyebrow and Leo chuckled and shook his head.

"I knew it would fascinate you" he told Harry in particular as he too looked down at the sexually conjoined couple on the slab, the male had an obvious bullet hole in the back of his head and it looked as though the bullet had gone through his head and into his lover's "The bullet had enough power to penetrate" Harry snorted at this and Nikki had to stifle a giggle, Leo just rolled his eyes and continued "the male's skull and go through into the female's skull"

"So a close range" Nikki nodded "The killer had to get close enough to them to fire the weapon"

"Well they weren't exactly focussing on looking behind them were they?" Harry asked rhetorically "What a way to go" he chuckled and Nikki gave him a look and shook her head in amusement "So why did you want both of us?"

"Well there are two bodies" Leo shrugged as he stated the obvious "I've already got a case on so I will be focussing on that, you two can have this one"

"Thanks Leo" Harry nodded and rolled his eyes, any other time he would have been happy to have a case like this but all he wanted at that moment was to be out with Nikki, even though it wasn't a date. He glared down at the two deceased 'why couldn't you have waited to die?' he thought bitterly as if they had a choice in the matter.

"Harry are you alright?" Nikki asked after Leo had walked out of the room leaving the room empty apart from them and the two deceased "Why are you glaring at them?" she motioned with her head to the bodies on the slab and Harry froze for a moment as he tried to think of an excuse, then decided to tell Nikki the truth.

"Because their sex life is more active than mine and they are _dead_" he moaned and Nikki giggled and shook her head.

"No adoring twenty five year olds lately?" she asked innocently as she walked over to Harry and stood close to him, she didn't seem to notice just how close they were but Harry did and he had to clear his throat slightly as he looked down and got a clear view of her cleavage.

"No" Harry coughed out and forced himself to turn away as Nikki looked up at him "Not lately"

"Well let's get on with this then" Nikki motioned towards the two bodies in front of them and Harry flushed slightly, he didn't know whether it was embarrassment or desire, when he caught the other hidden meaning to what she had said. Nikki however didn't seem to notice it.

'If only' he thought bitterly as he reached over and tugged some latex gloves on harder than he meant to and winced as they pinged against his wrists and stung him 'Life just isn't fair' he mentally pouted and sighed as he looked back at the two dead people.

I looked down at the canvas in front of me and then lifted it up and hooked it on a nail on my living room wall, pride of place just above my fire. Stepping back I nodded as I looked over every detail that I had painted, this was my best one yet. I already had an idea for my next one and all I need before I start it is the subject.

"Maybe it was a husband or wife" Nikki suggested as she leant back against the bench behind her and watched Harry perform the autopsy on the deceased male. They had separated the bodies half an hour beforehand and had decided to autopsy them one after the other. Harry glanced up from her and his eyes were instantly drawn to the pen she was absentmindedly chewing, he was suddenly glad of his baggy scrubs as his trousers tightened slightly. Harry remembered that Nikki had said something and had to try and remember what she had said without looking like an idiot.

"Maybe" Harry replied lamely when he remembered what Nikki had said and swallowed when she continued to suck her pen 'She's going to kill me' he whimpered and had to turn back to the stomach contents of the male in front of him to try and ignore the images that Nikki chewing on a pen had brought up in his mind, but the more he tried not to think about it, the more he did "Bloody hell" he whispered

"Sorry?" Nikki asked as she looked back at her friend and saw a slight blush on is cheeks, something rare for him.

"Nothing" Harry ground out and held up a pot of the stomach contents "You couldn't run this through...well everything really?" he asked wanting her out of the room, not in a rude way, he just couldn't trust himself not to do anything stupid.

"Okay" Nikki nodded and took the pot away from him "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes" Harry nodded and gave her a smile, Nikki only nodded slightly and looked him up and down with a concerned look on her face before walking out of the room. He watched her leave and let out a long breath when the double doors closed behind her "Bloody hell" he whispered again as he took a deep breath before going back to the autopsy.

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**Just some humor for you :D Poor Harry! and Nikki is oblivious...maybe I will keep her like that for a while, what do you think?**

**xxx**


	3. Chapter 3

Harry leant his hands against the wall of the shower as the cold water ran over his body. He had finished the autopsy of the deceased male and had kindly let Nikki have the female body. In truth though he just needed to get out of the room and find a cold shower. He didn't know when it got like this, there had been one time that he could stand in a room with Nikki and not think about taking her there and then up against a wall or kissing her senseless, and a time where she could smile at him and it didn't make his stomach flutter. He didn't know what he was feeling because he had never felt it before and that was the scary part about it. He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist before sitting on the bench in the middle of the room with a loud sigh. He looked up when the door opened and expected it to be one of the cutting room techs or even Leo but his body reacted instantly when he saw Nikki poke her head around the door and give him one of her smiles.

"There you are" she said almost oblivious to the fact that the only thing covering Harry was a thin towel "You couldn't give me a hand could you?"

'Could _you_ give _me_ a hand?' a sarcastic part of Harry's mind asked and he nodded slightly to Nikki's question not daring to open his mouth and say something.

"Good" Nikki nodded and glanced down at his still wet chest before she retreated out of the shower room leaving Harry to wonder why Fate had it in for him at the moment.

The next day Harry knew Fate definitely had it in for him when Nikki walked into the lab wearing an almost knee length straight black skirt, calf length black boots and a tight figure hugging blouse, her blonde hair was straight and fell down her back.

'Bloody hell she's beautiful' was the first thing that flew through his mind when he cast his eyes over Nikki's form and the pen he had been tapping against the side of his desk slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor. Nikki looked up at him and smiled as he leant down and picked the pen up trying to hide the fact that he had been staring at her since she had sauntered into the room. Straightening up slightly he yelped as he misjudged the distance and his head banged against the edge of his desk. This caused Nikki to giggle and Harry sat up as he rubbed the sore spot.

"Thanks" he told her sarcastically

"Aww I'm sorry would you like me to rub your head for you?" Nikki asked innocently as she logged onto her computer.

"What?" Harry squeaked out as he looked at her and saw that she didn't understand the connotations of what she had just asked him "No" he stuttered "No I'm fine"

Harry then saw movement in Leo's doorway and looked up to see the older man shaking his head at Harry, a grin on his face as he knew what Harry was thinking about. Harry gave him a withering look before he turned back to Nikki who was once again chewing absentmindedly on the end of her pen, he let out a quiet groan.

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"Nikki are you doing anything tonight?" Harry asked as he walked into the cutting room to see Nikki sitting at one of the side benches reading up on something "I thought we could continue what we were meant to do yesterday"

Nikki looked at him and nodded before giving him a smile.

"I'd like that" she replied and Harry nodded trying to think of something to say but was saved from certain embarrassment by Leo walking into the room. He heard the silence between his younger co-workers and looked from one to the other.

"Sorry was I interrupting?" he asked and Nikki frowned and shook her head while Harry just sighed and leant against the worktop next to Nikki to look down at the test results for their two recent victims.

"There's chloroform in both blood tests?" he asked quietly and Nikki nodded and swivelled her chair back round to the bench "How is that possible?"

"And the times of deaths are completely different" Nikki told Harry who raised an eyebrow

"How can they be different if the bullet went through him" he motioned to the table which held the male "and straight into her" he motioned to the other table.

"Because it didn't" Nikki replied "Jane Doe died at least five hours before John Doe"

"So how the hell did they get together?" Harry frowned and glanced at Nikki "Necrophilia?"

"No John Doe had already been in rigor when they were put together" Nikki explained "He wouldn't have been able to penetrate her if he wasn't"

Harry wondered how Nikki could be so sexy when she was talking like that and his eyes wandered down her body when she turned her back on him to pull back the sheet covering Jane Doe.

"There are abrasions" she motioned to the female's lower regions.

'It's not hers I'm interested in' said that same sarcastic voice from earlier and Harry flushed slightly at his own thoughts as Nikki continued

"They are constant with whoever put them together having failed quite a few times"

Harry then caught on to what she was saying and crossed his arms over his chest as he leant back against the worktop and smirked at Nikki.

"So you are saying that someone chloroformed them, Jane Doe first, shot them and rearranged them like we found them?"

"Yes" Nikki nodded and Harry scoffed at her "You don't think so?"

"No" Harry shook his head and Nikki placed her hands on her hips and looked menacingly at him 'Wow she's even more beautiful when she's angry'

"So what's your theory then?"

"Well Jane Doe gets shot by John Doe who likes a bit of necrophilia then someone, hubby, partner or whoever comes home and finds them. Bang, shoots John Doe in the head"

"Bull" Nikki shot at him "That is the biggest load of bollocks I have heard in a while"

"And yours is a load better" Harry told her sarcastically

"Well I don't...."

"Children will you shut up" Leo told them loudly as he walked over to them "Both your theories are valid now will you stop acting like five year olds or do I have to separate you?"

"No _dad_" Nikki mumbled as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar and Harry shot her a triumphant look over Leo's shoulder but was caught by the older man.

"Harry?"

"Sorry" Harry replied and had to marvel at how Leo made them both feel like naughty children

"Good" Leo nodded before walking out of the cutting room leaving a stunned silence in his wake.

"I'm still right you know" Harry told Nikki after he had gone and she just shook her head and smirked at him.

"We'll see"

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**Naughty Harry and his thoughts. lol! **

**xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

Harry was very happy when he woke up the next morning. Although he and Nikki hadn't got around to going to the cinema they had stayed at his house with a bottle, or two, of wine and a good film. Harry grinned as he thought back to the night before and how natural it had seemed, however he had to evaluate how much drink he could have without making a fool of himself when he couldn't control his mouth.

'Nikki and her mouth on the other hand...' the voice said and Harry groaned as he thought back to a dream he had just had, one that featured his blonde haired best friend quite prominently "Damn it, I'm like a bloody teenager" Harry hissed to himself as he climbed out of bed and made his way to the bathroom for an extra cold shower.

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"Did you get up alright this morning?" Nikki asked as she walked into the lab to see Harry focussing on a folder in front of him.

'Yes I did no thanks to you' Harry thought but nodded and smiled at Nikki "Of course I did"

"Well you did drink a lot last night"

"Not really" Harry shrugged "I didn't want to get drunk and make a fool out of myself"

"You don't need to be drunk to do that Harry" Nikki laughed and he mock glared at her

"Thank you so much" he replied "You are such a good friend"

"I do try" Nikki responded and Harry chuckled

"Yes you are very trying" he told her and she poked her tongue out at him prompting images of what other things she could do with that tongue to pop to the front of Harry's mind "Um.." he was saved from having to say anything when Leo popped his head around his office doorframe.

"Nikki a word please?" he asked and Nikki nodded as she walked over allowing Harry to release a long breath and shake his head.

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I was pleased with my newest addition to my works of art as I put the last finishing touches to the canvas in front of me. I had chosen to use watercolour this time and I knew this was the right decision as I stepped back and looked from my subject then to the finished art on the easel. With a nod I walked over to the tank of water and started to fish out the, well, fish from the tank and put them back in their smaller aquarium in the corner of the room before feeding them. I then turned back to the rest of my subject and cocked my head to one side as I observed it, now what to do with it?

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Nikki rolled her eyes and sighed as she squelched through the wet, sticky mud by the side of the river she was currently walking on. She was thankful to Leo for him telling her to take some wellies, not the boots she had been wearing, she had won the coin toss between her and Harry and had won this case while Harry had to stay with the two other bodies that had come in a few days previously. Harry. There was something up with him, Nikki had realised, he had been acting strangely for the past few days, well weeks she remembered. Nikki wondered whether he had a girlfriend and for some strange reason this made her feel angry and frustrated but she shook this off as she ducked under the police tape and met none other than Bob Mumford. She groaned quietly as he shook her hand, Harry would have a field day when she told him.

"An early morning jogger found him like this" Mumford told her as he motioned to the mud covered body in front of them. It was face down in the mud but a few hours beforehand would have been completely submerged in the water. Nikki crouched down next to the body and she was conscious of eyes on her back and knew instinctively what Mumford was looking at.

'Not a chance Mumford' she thought as she reached over and tried to turn the body over without destroying anything, no such luck, the body was submerged so much it was stuck 'Great' she thought sarcastically.

By the time Nikki walked back into the lab she was caked in a layer of mud and wasn't at all happy about it.

"What happened to you?" Harry laughed as she walked into the cutting room to find Harry and Leo looking over the other two bodies in they had received, Leo was now free from his other case so had joined theirs.

"Well I decided to have a bit of a mud wrestle with a few other women" Nikki replied sarcastically "It was going to be naked but it was too cold"

Harry's reaction was instant, his eyes darkened and Nikki saw his breathing quicken and congratulated herself on a job well done before she walked straight through to the showers 'Typical male' she thought, however she could feel eyes on her back as she walked and she was one hundred percent certain it wasn't Leo looking at her, unlike when Mumford was looking at her, Nikki felt she didn't mind at all.

Fifteen minutes later Nikki walked back into the cutting room feeling fresher and cleaner than when she went in. She hadn't bothered to dry her hair and it was just laying straight and damp down her back.

Nikki stared down at the deceased male on the slab before her, at the scene he was so covered in mud that she had a hard time deciding whether it was male or female but now she had got the body back to the lab it was decidedly male. Nikki opened his mouth slightly and there was the tell tale signs of drowning, there was foam at the back of his throat and also slightly around the lips. Nikki sympathised with the poor deceased in front of her.

'Not a nice way to go' she thought.

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"I have your results for the most recent John Doe" Harry called over to Nikki as he walked over to her desk "Apparently the water found in his lungs is not consistent with the water of the river"

"Stop reading my results" Nikki told him as she took the folder and wacked him over the head with it "They could have been confidential"

"Of course" Harry replied sarcastically as he pouted and rubbed his head "That hurt"

"No it didn't you baby now leave me alone I have work to do" she smiled and placed one hand on his chest to push him away.

"But I have nothing else to do" Harry whined as he followed Nikki through to the layout room "I'm still waiting for some more results from the Jane Doe and John Doe one"

"Well go and annoy Leo then"

Harry snorted and shook his head

"I'm not brave enough"

Nikki smirked at him before sitting on one of the stools and laying out the results in front of her, frowning at being ignored by his friend Harry walked over and stood right next to her so their arms were touching and looked down at the results.

"So he was drowned somewhere else" he stated the obvious and Nikki rolled her eyes and looked up at him.

"Don't you have anywhere better to be"

"No" Harry replied 'I love being here with you'

"Fine you can..." Nikki started but was cut off by Leo poking his head around the door

"Harry the rest of the results are back" he told the younger man who frowned at the awful timing but just nodded.

"Thanks"

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**I've already written the next two chapters as well and have decided to go down a different route to my normal harry/Nikki fluff...you'll have to wait and see XD**

**xxx**


	5. Chapter 5

A week past and neither cases were anywhere near getting solved, there just wasn't enough evidence, no witnesses and no suspects.

"How about we all go out for a drink tonight" Nikki suggested as she walked into Leo's office to see Harry sitting on the sofa and Leo at his desk "We could catch up"

"Or we could stay here and swig ethanol out of the specimen jars" Harry joked as Nikki walked around his legs and sat next to him on the sofa "Or do you two have more wine in your desks"

"Now you mention it" Leo said and reached over to pull his desk drawer open and pulled out a large bottle of red wine.

"You know I'm not even going to ask" Harry nodded and Nikki giggled as Leo also pulled out three wine glasses and a pack of cards.

"I think that's wise" Leo replied with a grin on his face as he opened the bottle and poured generous amounts into all three glasses.

"You know we have to drive home" Nikki told both men but accepted the glass nonetheless and took a sip before glancing at Harry who shrugged.

"We deserve this" he motioned to the bottle on Leo's desk and took his own glass from the older man.

"We?" Nikki scoffed and patted Harry on the leg completely oblivious to the reaction his body had but Leo spotted when Harry stiffened slightly and choked on the gulp of wine he was taking at the time, he just smirked at the younger man over his wine glass but Nikki ignored them "I seem to remember it was me who trudged through all the mud and whatever else there was just to get to one body"

"We did toss for it" Harry replied quickly noticing Nikki hadn't removed her hand from his thigh, not that he was complaining. He didn't however want Nikki to notice his reaction and had to shift slightly so he had covered his crotch, Leo's smirk grew and Harry threw him a dirty look.

'Bugger off' he mouthed to the older man who chuckled and shook his head before turning back to what Nikki was saying.

Leo's phone suddenly rang and he placed his still full glass of wine on his desk and picked it up. He spoke into it for a few minutes and then placed it back on the desk and turned back to his younger colleagues.

"There looks like another case come in but as you two have had wine I'm afraid I can't let you go"

"Oh come on Leo" Harry whined "I've only had half a glass, so has Nikki"

"Ah well that's still enough" Leo shrugged as he stood up and slipped his jacket on both younger pathologists could see he was enjoying this "I'll see you tomorrow"

"Leo.." Harry spluttered as the older man walked out of his office but he turned to Nikki and realised how close they were sitting "Um...shall we go back to mine?" he asked and Nikki nodded and downed the rest of her wine before putting the glass on Leo's desk and grabbing the wine bottle.

"You can drive"

"What about your car?" Harry asked as he stood up and reached down to help Nikki stand up even though he knew she didn't need any help.

"I'll get a taxi in tomorrow and get it then" Nikki shrugged and dragged him out of the room. Harry didn't know if she realised or even cared that their hands were still entwined.

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"Come on Harry it couldn't have been that long ago" Nikki laughed as she poured herself another glass of red wine. They had finished the bottle that Leo had opened, one of Harry's own and were halfway through their third bottle, needless to say they were both very drunk "When was the last time you had sex?"

"It was so long ago I can't remember" Harry slurred slightly and leant closer to Nikki who giggled and took a large gulp of her wine before putting the glass on the table next to her "Six months"

"Six months?" Nikki giggled and reached up to place one hand on Harry's shoulder "Well I've gone eight months"

"Really?" Harry asked as he leant down and pressed a kiss onto Nikki's lips "Let's see if we can remedy that" he whispered

Nikki moaned as Harry tried to deepen the kiss and she allowed him to do so as she ran one hand through his hair and the other gripped his shoulder tightly. Harry rested one hand on Nikki's hip and moaned into her mouth as she moved her hand from his shoulder and started to undo his shirt buttons and run her hands over his chest. Harry broke the kiss long enough for Nikki to push the shirt off his shoulders and for him to pull her jumper over her head and throw it somewhere before he captured her lips again and started to work on her bra. He dropped that to the floor and moved away from her to help her up off the sofa so they were standing before attacking her lips with his own again and backing her into the wall behind them and kissing his way down her neck. He was only slightly conscious of where Nikki's hands were and he allowed her to undo his jeans and slide them to the floor where he stepped out of them and pressed himself closer to Nikki causing her to moan and wrap her arms around his neck to get him closer to her. Harry ran his hands down her sides and rested them on her hips just above her trouser line before breaking the kiss and looking into her eyes with a smirk on his face as he undid her trousers and pushed both them and her underwear to the floor.

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**Oh dear! I wonder how that will go down in the morning XP I've already written the next chapter so I may be nice and upload it today.**

**xxx**


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning Harry woke with a huge headache and winced at the bright light shone through his windows and penetrated his still closed eyes. It took him a few minutes to wonder why he hadn't closed his curtains last night but couldn't be bothered to open his eyes to see. It then took him an extra two minutes to realise there was something warm pressed up against him, something he wasn't accustomed to in the mornings. His eyes snapped open and he moaned as the light became brighter and blinked a few times to get used to it. He then looked down and saw a very naked Nikki with her head on his chest and one arm flung over his stomach, he himself had one arm around her waist and the other resting on her head. He moved this hand slowly as not to wake her and ran one hand through his messy hair trying to remember how they had got in their current situation. He closed his eyes and willed himself to think back, he suddenly remembered the bottle of wine that Leo had in his desk, then the other two that he and Nikki had drunk the night before and then...

"Oh god" Harry whispered to himself as everything from the night before came rushing back. This definitely wasn't how he had imagined it, and oh how he had imagined it. There was a small groan from the woman draped over his chest and he looked down just in time to see her turn her head and open her eyes. It took her a few seconds to work out why she was naked and laying over her best friend's equally naked body before she shot up and grasped the duvet over her body.

"No point doing that" Harry mumbled "I saw it all last night"

"What..how..we.." Nikki couldn't string a sentence together as she realised what had happened and looked around the room for her clothes.

"I think most of them are in the living room" Harry said noncommittally and Nikki glared at him and reached out to slap him on the chest.

"How dare you speak like that" she hissed and pulled the duvet cover further up her body but this moved it up her thighs slightly and gave Harry a nice view. He groaned slightly and turned away when he realised that he wanted more of Nikki than last night "We..we were...oh bloody hell. How did this happen?" Nikki asked the last part softly and Harry shrugged and sat up slightly, he didn't see Nikki run an approving look over his chest before looking away from him.

"We were drunk and I remember something about us not having sex for eight months or whatever" he stated "It wouldn't have happened otherwise"

"No I don't suppose it would have done" Nikki agreed and shrugged "Okay we go to work and we don't speak of this, we just act like it never happened"

Harry tried to ignore the hurt feeling that ran through him when he heard this but nodded in agreement.

"Fine by me" he shrugged and looked away as Nikki glanced to the door "If you want to go and get your clothes..."

Nikki didn't say anything but Harry head the bed squeak as she climbed off it and had to force himself not to turn around as she walked out of the room to find her clothes. When he was sure she had gone he collapsed back down onto the bed and covered his eyes with both his hands and let out a loud groan. The next thing he heard was his front door opening and closing and it took his hangover clouded mind a few seconds to catch up with his ears, when it did he shot out of bed and to his bedroom window before noticing that he was in fact naked and grabbed a pair of boxers before looking out of the window and seeing Nikki walking down the road.

"God Nikki what are you doing?" he muttered as he looked at the time and saw it was only just six in the morning. Pulling on some trousers and a t-shirt he made his way quickly down stairs before grabbing his keys and practically running out of the house and in the direction Nikki was headed. He found her ten minutes later sitting on a bench in the park near his house and sat down on the other end of the bench without a word "You'll freeze out here" he said after a while as he shivered slightly, it was a chilly morning and their breaths made steam rise out of their mouths, Nikki was wearing only what she had come to his in and he could see her shivering as well.

"It's fine" she replied simply and pulled out her mobile "I'll call a taxi"

"Nikki please don't" Harry begged and reached out to stop her dialling but she jerked her hand away from him and held the phone out of his reach "Come back to the house and we can talk about it"

"There's nothing to talk about Harry" Nikki told him as she turned away from him "We got drunk, we had sex, end of story"

"but..."

"No Harry" Nikki snapped and Harry frowned and her and stood up.

"Fine" he shrugged and walked back in the direction of his house, pushing down the feeling that he was just making the worst mistake of his life.

------

Harry was the first to arrive in the lab that morning and Leo entered a few minutes after he did which was rare for the older man.

"Sorry" he apologised, oblivious to the brooding look Harry had "Traffic was terrible"

Harry didn't respond to this as Leo made his way into his office and turned on the computer to let it warm up. He walked back out of the office just as Nikki walked into the lab and the older man thought it strange that his younger co-workers didn't greet each other like they normally did.

"Morning" Nikki said cheerfully to Leo who smiled and returned the greeting "Any cases?"

"Well as you two haven't drunk any wine today then you can help me" Leo chuckled and didn't miss the look Harry and Nikki exchanged "A man was found hanging from a tree yesterday however it looks like he was moved"

Nikki frowned at him and Harry leant back in his chair and entwined his hands on his stomach before stealing a glance at Nikki which she didn't see.

"But he was hung by the same rope" Leo continued "So he either hung himself somewhere and someone else moved him or someone hung him and _then_ moved him"

"Why do that though?" Harry asked suddenly and Nikki scoffed

"Maybe to cover it up?" she asked as if talking to a child and Leo shot her a disapproving look "Sorry" she wasn't sorry in the slightest "Can I see the body?"

"Of course" Leo nodded and Nikki nodded before walking in the general direction of the cutting room.

"Have you two had an argument?" Leo asked when she had disappeared through the double doors and Harry shrugged as he fiddled with a piece of paper he had found on his desk "Well I'm sure you would know if you'd had an argument"

"It's fine Leo" Harry assured his friend although he knew it wasn't "It's just a silly thing we'll sort out later"

"Right" Leo replied slowly before glancing over to his office where his phone was ringing "Make sure you do, I don't want it affecting your work"

* * *

**Didn't want to go for the fluffy morning after this time XP Sorry Charlotte..you were probably expecting fluff weren't you? lol! **

**xxx**


	7. Chapter 7

"Nikki can we talk?" Harry asked as he walked into the layout room and saw that his friend was alone.

"Of course" Nikki smiled at him but Harry could tell it was forced "About?"

"Last night"

Nikki's smile faded and she turned away from him and to the interactive screens next to her where she began looking at the autopsy photos with fake interest.

"Well what else do you think I wanted to talk about?" Harry scoffed "The weather?"

"Oh piss off Harry" Nikki spat at him and smirked as she turned around and shook her head "Last night didn't happen"

"Oh really?" Harry asked loudly "Then why did we both wake up naked in my bed?"

"Be quiet" she hissed and Harry closed the door with a bang making Nikki step back a bit and shake her head before turning back to the autopsy photos.

"Are you embarrassed?" Harry asked as he walked over to lean against the table behind Nikki who felt suddenly very vulnerable.

"What? of drunken sex with my best friend? Oh no it happens all the time" Nikki replied sarcastically and Harry shook his head at her attitude, she was using her humour to cover her real feelings, something he knew he did as well.

"Nikki..." he started but the door opened and a lab tech walked in.

"Oh I'm sorry" he muttered as he looked from Harry to Nikki obviously sensing he had walked in on something when Harry glared at him and Nikki shot him a look he couldn't quite identify over her shoulder "I'll..i'll come back later" he then retreated out of the door leaving the two pathologists alone again.

"Nikki please we need to..."

"Did you notice that all three bodies could have been placed for something?" Nikki interrupted as he looked between photo's of their three most recent cases, her mind snapping onto something "I mean the first two were placed..."

"For God sake Nikki please" Harry shouted and Nikki spun around to look at him fury etched all over her face.

"Well at least I'm interested in this case" she yelled back at him "All your interested in is your sex life"

"Oh don't give me that crap" Harry smirked "Of course I'm interested in the case"

"No you are not" Nikki told him "Nothing happened last night" she whispered dangerously to him "Nothing, okay?"

"Well that's not what you said last night" Harry shouted "You told me it was..."

"Just shut up Harry" Nikki yelled "We were drunk"

"Oh really?" Harry asked sarcastically "Well I knew there was a reason I had sex with you, I wouldn't have done it unless I was pissed out of my head"

"How dare you" Nikki hissed at him "You have no idea..."

"What is going on in here?" Leo demanded as he slammed the door open and walked into the room to see Harry and Nikki standing in defensive positions, both with looks of anger on their faces "I told you both to sort this out this morning"

"Oh I wanted to sort it out Leo, trust me" Harry shrugged and motioned to Nikki "But Nikki obviously doesn't want to"

"Stop bullshitting Harry" Nikki snapped "You came in here to antagonise me"

"You think that's all I live for is it?" Harry shouted at her both of them forgetting Leo was in the room "Antagonising you?"

"Will you two stop it" Leo yelled and both younger pathologists turned to him to see him more angrier than they had ever seen him "Now why are you arguing like this? It's not like you"

"It doesn't matter" Nikki mumbled and looked back at the photos "Harry just doesn't agree with my assessment of the case"

"Well Harry your phone is ringing, Nikki I'll listen" Leo told both of them and without another word Harry walked past Leo and out of the room. Nikki jumped slightly when Leo shut the door loudly and knew what was coming "What happened?" the older man asked softly, he knew out of the two of his friends Nikki would be the easiest to get information out of "Please?"

"After you had gone to this case" Nikki motioned to the picture of the hanged man "We went back to Harry's with the wine, then we had two more bottles and of course we were rather drunk" she paused and swallowed slightly "Next thing we both know it's morning and we wake up naked in Harry's bed" she added bluntly and turned away from the shocked look on Leo's face as he tried to think of something to say "Can you just leave it please Leo?"

"If you want me to" Leo nodded as he respected Nikki's wishes for now "Now what were you saying about them being posed?"

"I think the cases are connected somehow" Nikki told him and pointed to the first two bodies they had found "These two were both shot at different times and then were placed like this, then he was drowned somewhere completely different to where he was found and the last one was hanged somewhere different also from where he was found"

"So..what you're saying is that they are connected because all three..four victims were moved from their original spots but were killed how they were found? Second John Doe was drowned but not in the river, third John Doe hanged but not where we found him?"

"Well apart from the first two" Nikki nodded "I mean what are the chances of dying during sex?"

"Very small" Leo chuckled and Nikki smirked and nodded "Okay so the killer kills the first two hours apart, arranges them like that" he motioned to the picture on the board "and then what?"

"I wouldn't like to guess" Nikki mumbled as she bit her lip.

---------

I sat on a bench in the middle of the shopping mall trying to work out what to paint next, there were so many possibilities that my mind was overrun by different idea's and I had to close my eyes and take a deep breath to stop myself getting excited.

"Excuse me are you okay?" a female voice asked from next to me and I opened my eyes to see a perfect angel standing before me. Perfect.

* * *

**Told you I was going down a different route with the Harry/Nikki...no fluff here XP and I haven't forgotten about 'Balance re-write', I'm just concentrating on this fic at the moment.**

**xxx**


	8. Chapter 8

Nikki groaned as she pulled up outside her house after work, her father was sitting on the small wall that ran around her front garden but she found herself somewhat glad that he was there, he was her father after all and she thought that there could be worse company at the present time.

"Dad" she greeted as she climbed out of her car and her father gave her a smile and she couldn't help but smile back as she hugged him.

"Good to see you Niks" Victor smiled at her as he followed her up the garden path "How have you been keeping?"

"Fine dad" Nikki sighed as she tugged off her scarf and coat and hung them up before motioning for her father to do the same "What about you?" she didn't know why she was being so civil to him

"Been better than I have in a long time" Victor replied and shook his head as Nikki offered him a drink.

"I thought you were going back to Africa" Nikki told him as she sat herself on the sofa opposite the armchair that Victor was sitting on but he sighed and reached into his pocket before drawing out a brown envelope and throwing it on the coffee table between them "Dad..."

"It was wrong of me" he told her and Nikki shook her head

"Dad I gave that to you...

"Exactly" Victor interrupted again "I shouldn't be scrounging off my daughter when I am fit enough to get myself a job. It's all there"

"Where are you staying?" Nikki asked, completely ignoring the brown envelope within her reach.

"Various hotels" Victor shrugged and Nikki tutted

"Come and stay with me" she told him "Until you are back on your feet again"

"You don't want your old dad around here when you probably have a boyfriend or something" her father chuckled and shook his head, this made Nikki scoff and roll her eyes.

"Don't worry about that dad, there is no-one" she tried to block out the images of her and Harry from the morning.

"My beautiful daughter hasn't got someone special?" Victor asked and Nikki blushed slightly and shook her head, she never had anyone special, just one night stands or flings, not that she needed her father to know that "You always had boys lining up outside" her father was reminiscing and Nikki remembered Harry saying something along the same lines about the police force.

"Oh come on dad" Nikki laughed "It wasn't like that"

"Of course it was" Victor grinned, he was glad he was reconnecting with his only child, glad that she was letting them "and anyway when are you going to settle down and give me grandchildren?"

"Dad" Nikki whined and shook her head "I need to find a man who is willing to put up with me and my job first"

"What about...Harry Cunningham wasn't it?"

"What about him?" Nikki asked sharply and Victor shrugged noncommittally

"I thought I saw a spark when you two worked together"

"Well you thought wrong" Nikki snapped and her father looked put out for a second "Sorry"

"That's alright" he shrugged

"I meant it you know" Nikki told him, succeeding in changing the subject "You can come and stay here in the spare room if you like"

"I'd like that thank you" Victor nodded and gave his daughter a smile "I'll pay you rent of course"

Nikki just shrugged and frowned when her mobile sounded to show she had a text, praying it wasn't Harry she picked it up and was relieved to see it was from Leo. Reading it she frowned 'Think it's best if you have tomorrow off, you've got time off piled up as it is, paid of course. Will talk to Harry about things. Love Leo'. She swore slightly and pressed dial on her phone to call her friend.

"_Nikki" _came Leo's voice down the phone _"You better not be ringing me up to argue"_

"Not about the day off no but please don't talk to him about it" Nikki pleaded and looked over at her father who was studying her intently before looking away "Please Leo"

"_It's affecting your work. You couldn't even look at each other today after your argument"_

"Leo please" Nikki begged trying to swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat "He doesn't know you know"

"_Why don't you want him to know?"_

"Because he will think I told you just to get back at him and get back up from the boss"

"_No he won't" _Leo argued _"Harry's not like..."_

"He holds grudges Leo you know that" Nikki interrupted "He won't forgive me for telling you"

"_I'll tell him I forced it out of you but one way or the other I'm going to have to talk to him"_

"Fine" Nikki sighed "Good luck with that"

She then hung up without giving Leo a chance to reply and threw her phone on the table in front of her.

"Niks are you okay?" her father asked softly when he saw the state his daughter was in and she shook her head and started to cry. He was at her side in an instant and had his arms wrapped around her while she cried into his chest "It's okay" he whispered and stroked her head. He hadn't been there much when she was a child and he knew he would do everything in his power to make it up to her "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

"No" Nikki whispered and shook her head "Not yet"

"Okay then" Victor nodded and turned towards her kitchen "How about I make a nice cup of tea for both of us"

Nikki gave him a watery chuckle and drew away from him before wiping her face and smiling at him.

"Everything's easy to find" she motioned towards her kitchen as her father stood up and walked through the door. She bit her lip to stop herself letting out another sob, her life had just turned upside down. The one man that had always been there for her had stopped talking to her, for good reason she thought, and the other man who had always let her down was there for her, she couldn't help but chuckle at how screwed up her life was at that moment.

* * *

**I thought I'd make Victor the good guy for the time being..dunno about in the future..Nikki's got to have someone there for her.**

**xxx**


	9. Chapter 9

"I thought you had work" Victor told Nikki the next morning when she walked into the kitchen still dressed in her pyjamas, her hair a mess and a tired look on her face. She jumped slightly when she saw someone in her kitchen but then it registered who it was and why he was there and she sighed.

"Leo's given me the day off" she told him and smiled as he handed her a mug of coffee, after their conversation the night before Victor had returned to the hotel he was staying at to collect his things before returning to Nikki's house "He needs to sort some things out"

"Right" Victor nodded and patted his daughter on the shoulder as he walked past "We can spend the day together and you can get me up to speed with everything I have missed" he paused and gave her a guilty look "It will take the whole day" he then turned and walked out of the room leaving Nikki to contemplate what he had just said.

------

"Morning" Leo greeted Harry cheerfully as he walked into the layout room to see the younger man bent over the table reading some results, all he got was a grunt in reply and turned around to shut the door to give them some privacy "Nikki told me why you aren't talking and had that argument"

Harry's head shot up and he turned to Leo with a frown on his face.

"Well when I say told me I meant that I had to force it out of her" Leo only stretched the truth slightly, it hadn't taken that much force he had to admit "What happened?" he asked quietly

"Well Nikki's told you so you obviously know" Harry replied and went to stand up

"Sit down Harry" Leo said loudly and Harry couldn't help but obey when he heard the tone of Leo's voice, one he hadn't heard before "What were you both thinking?"

"We weren't" Harry shrugged "We were drunk so we _obviously_ weren't"

"Why?..you are both..well I thought you were, sensible adults. You know your limits, you know you are attracted to Nikki, you obviously knew too much alcohol would lead somewhere you would both regret"

"What are you my father?" Harry shouted and jumped up off the stool "You don't have any right to lecture me on this"

"Yes I damned well do" Leo yelled which shocked Harry slightly but he recovered quickly "When two of my friends, my co-workers, part of _my team _do something stupid like you two did then it is my business"

"Well you are obviously going to take Nikki's side aren't you?" Harry sneered as he walked past Leo and gripped the door handle "She's always been your _precious girl_, but really, is Nikki honestly replacing Cassie?" he then tugged the door open and left a speechless Leo standing in the middle of the room.

------

"You know I am so proud of you Nikki" Victor told his daughter as they sat in her living room talking about her life after he had left "I used to tell everyone, when I knew you were studying to be a doctor, I used to tell them 'oh my daughter, she's training to be a doctor. I don't know where she got her brains from'"

Nikki chuckled and shook her head before taking a gulp of her coffee and trying to hide the blush that crept across her cheeks when she heard Victor say that.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there when your mother died" he suddenly said and Nikki shrugged and shook her head "If I was then maybe she..."

"It was too sudden" Nikki interrupted "It wasn't your fault"

"Maybe I could have protected her" Victor whispered "I loved her so much Nikki"

"I know you did dad" Nikki nodded "But there wasn't anything that you could have done, she died in the fire. If anyone has a right to be guilty it's me" her voice broke at the end of her sentence and she took a deep breath to stop her breaking down "I was scared and I just ran out of the house, I didn't even give her a second thought"

"You were twelve Nikki" Victor said softly and reached out to grip her hand in his as she bit her lip to stop herself crying "You were scared and I wasn't there for you"

"God daddy" Nikki sobbed and for the second time in two days she cried into her father's chest as he tried to console her.

"What's got you in this state Nikki?" Victor asked as he ran one hand over her blonde hair as she trembled slightly "The Nikki I knew never cried, even when she fell she always got up again"

"It's Harry" Nikki whispered tearfully, liking the protective feel of her father's arms around her, normally it was Harry who comforted her but she liked it that it was Victor who was there for her "We..we got drunk and we slept together"

"Nikki" Victor mumbled and shook his head "That's nothing to be ashamed about, well..."

"Yes it is" Nikki nodded violently as she moved away from him and wiped her face "I got drunk and slept with my _best friend_ and now we aren't even talking" she sighed and shook her head "It's affected our work as well"

"I think you need some time off" Victor said after a while "A holiday, you are always working Nik, it's time you had some time to yourself for a change without having to worry about anyone else"

"I can't dad I need..."

"Ask Professor Dalton, you're close with him as well, I suspect that he will give you some time off. We can go somewhere together, have the holiday we never had when you were a child"

Nikki could see the hope in Victor's eyes and she couldn't help but nod and smile, she liked the fact that he was trying to make things work between them but couldn't help but wonder how long it would last.

"I'd like that" she told him after a while "I'd like to go to America, somewhere hot"

"Have a look on the internet" Victor suggested and Nikki leant over and picked up the laptop that was sitting on the table behind her and sat it on her lap "Where in America?"

-------

"Leo could I have a word?" Nikki asked as he knocked on Leo's office door and the man looked up in surprise.

"Nikki I told you to have the day off" he told her as he motioned for her to come into the room and frowned when she closed the door behind her "Is something the matter?"

"Can I have a few months off?" Nikki asked getting to the point straight away "My dad and I we want to...patch things up and he suggested a holiday"

"A few _months_?" Leo asked and leant forward on his desk "I know you have a lot of time built up but..."

"Please Leo" Nikki begged "I need to get away from...things here for a while and if my father wants to patch things up then I don't want to let that opportunity slip away"

"The problem isn't going to disappear if you run away from it" Leo told her knowing exactly what she wanted to get away from.

"I know Leo" Nikki sighed and shook her head "It would mean a lot to me"

"Alright then" Leo nodded slowly and smiled slightly when he saw the first real smile from Nikki for a couple of days "How long?"

"Four months?"

"_Four..._" Leo paused and shrugged before writing something on a piece of paper "Okay then, you know best"

"That's not going to get lost on that thing you call a desk is it?" Nikki laughed and Leo rolled his eyes at her and stood up.

"Go on get out of here" he grinned and Nikki stood up but walked over to Leo and they embraced before Leo pressed a kiss onto her cheek "Good luck. I'll see you soon"

"Thank you" Nikki whispered into his ear before turning and walking out of his office leaving Leo feeling slightly alone. He had got a confusing emotion when Nikki had told him that her father wanted to patch things up with her, it felt something like jealously but that couldn't be it, he was glad for the both of them he really was, but deep down he knew he was once again losing a daughter.

* * *

**Even I didn't know that was going to happen XP. and SPOOKS IS ON ON WEDNESDAY!! *fangirl squee***

**xxx**


	10. Chapter 10

"Where's Nikki?" Harry asked Leo the next day when they were both gathered around the corpse of a young woman who had been found with a knife sticking out of her chest "I thought you only gave her yesterday off"

Leo didn't respond straight away as he walked around to the opposite side of the silver table to get a different look at the deceased.

"She's...I've given her some time off" Leo replied slowly not wishing to get into another argument with the younger man "Her father wanted to patch things up with her and she asked for some time off"

"How long?" Harry asked as he leant on the silver surface and looked at the stab wound of the woman.

"Four months"

"Four months?" Harry said loudly "Four...she's only doing that so she doesn't have to speak to me"

"For God's sake Harry the whole world doesn't revolved around you and your feelings" Leo shouted back at him "You think I wanted her to leave with..._Victor_? Really? After everything he did to her she is still willing to forgive him"

"Oh so you're jealous now is that is?" Harry smirked and the police officers and the lab techs in the room shared worried glances "Now that Nikki is trying to work things out and she's going back to her _real _father you get..."

"I'm not listening to this" Leo interrupted "Go home Harry, I don't want to see you again until Monday"

"Fine" Harry spat before turning around and storming out of the cutting room leaving everyone else apart from Leo muttering to each other under their breaths.

That afternoon Leo forced himself to work on the case and not go to Harry's house and give him a piece of his mind. The younger man was acting like a spoilt child and if there was one thing Leo hated, it was a spoilt child. Shaking his head he focussed back on the pictures in front of him and began to wonder if what Nikki had said was true, maybe all their recent cases were connected somehow. The most recent woman had been stabbed but not in the alleyway where she had been found and it was obvious that she had been dead for quite some time. Another puzzling thing was that the partner of the first John Doe had come forward and named him as Dennis Owens, a twenty one year old gay student. This added fuel to the fire that they had been posed.

"But what for?" Leo mumbled to himself and ran one hand over his face and closed his eyes for a second as he drew in a deep breath. He was now one pathologist down for at least four months and if these killings continued then he would have to hire someone else, something he didn't want to think about let alone do, but four months was a long time.

-----

"So we have four months" Nikki was telling Victor as she handed him a mug of coffee "To do whatever we want, holiday, catch up.." she trailed off and shrugged "I just need to get away from here"

"Of course you do" Victor nodded and turned the laptop around so his daughter could see what he had been looking at "How about here? You said America and you said hot, this is perfect"

"Miami?" Nikki laughed "I've never...yeah let's go there" she was suddenly very excited about this holiday and a grin grew on her face as she saw Victor was as well "We can use that money" she motioned to the drawer which held the still closed envelope of money that Victor had given her back "Thank you dad"

"For what?"

"Trying" was all Nikki said

-------

"Okay so there are no fibres, no prints, no hair, no trace of any kind what so ever" Leo sighed as everyone gathered in the layout room two weeks later "What we do know however is that the killer, for whatever reason, poses them"

"Poses them?" Mumford smirked "What the hell for?"

"If we knew that we would have told you" Harry replied and gave the detective a sarcastic smile which was returned.

"We know this" Leo continued as if he hadn't been interrupted "Because the first male victim, Dennis Owens was gay so definitely wouldn't have been in a situation like we found him"

There were chuckles from around the room and Leo realised for the first time that it was all men who were present and if Nikki had been with them all of them, apart from himself, would have been competing, whether conscious of it or not, for her attention.

--------

_A week and a half or so later_

"Come on dad where did you meet Kim?" Nikki pushed Victor as they sat in a bar in Miami. They had been there a week and a half, using the half week to get over their jet lag "Please I want to know"

"In a park actually" Victor gave in to his daughter and sat back in his chair "I was just going for a walk to clear my head and she literally bumped into me, gave me quite a shock actually as her coffee ran down my clothes"

Nikki giggled loudly at this and sipped her drink as he father continued.

"She offered to pay for the washing bill and pressed her work card into my hand" he shrugged "It went on from there really"

"I'm sorry I didn't accept it" Nikki mumbled and reached over to grip Victor's hand before returning it to her drink.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, and that I lied to you and Dr Cunningham"

"We weren't on the best of terms" Nikki shrugged completely ignoring the reference to Harry "What did you do between the time you left the lab and when you came back?"

"Excuse me" came a female voice from behind Nikki and she turned to see a tall blonde woman walk up to them, she had a gun on one hip and a police badge on the other and Nikki recognised her accent as a non-native of Miami "You wouldn't have seen a man with.." she paused as she saw someone at the bar and she sighed loudly when Nikki and Victor turned to look at him as well "Sorry I've got him. Dad"

Nikki and Victor followed her progress across the bar and it was pretty obvious that the man she called 'dad' was drunk by the way she had to hold him up and help him out of the bar.

"Okay" Nikki said slowly as she downed the last of her drink "Shall we go for a walk, I'd rather not get drunk here"

"You would rather get drunk somewhere else?" Victor asked quickly and Nikki laughed as she realised where she had got her quick wit from.

* * *

**Bet some of you know who the blonde is XP. I've decided to do a kind of crossover...but not how you all think,**

**xxx**


	11. Chapter 11

Nikki casually walked along the beach as the sun was setting, a small smile on her face as she saw the beauty of something that was rarely seen in London. She stopped suddenly and sat down on a low wall that separated the pathway from the beach before observing the setting sun and the sea.

"Good evening ma'am" came a voice from next to her and Nikki jumped slightly before turning and seeing a tall man with red hair looking at her with a smile on his face, she was the gun on his hip and then spotted the same police badge that she had seen on the woman earlier that day "It's not safe for a woman to be alone around here at the moment"

"Oh really?" Nikki asked as she turned back to the sea and felt the man sit down next to her but not too close "Why is that?"

"Ah I hear you are not from around here" the man chuckled and Nikki turned her head to look at him properly. She had judged him to be about six feet tall but now she had a better look at him. He had sunglasses perched on the top of his head and he had, as she initially saw, ginger hair and the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen, she sighed to herself when she realised how cheesy that sounded "Well there's been a serial rapist in these parts in the past few weeks and we've had no luck catching him"

"We? Nikki enquired, not at all fazed by the fact there was a rapist around, she was sitting next to a police officer with a gun. A rather hot police officer at that. She frowned to herself and shook these thoughts away as he replied.

"Miami Dade police" the man replied and eventually turned to her causing Nikki to take in a sharp breath when he looked at her with those blue eyes "Sorry how rude of me" he held out his hand and Nikki took it "Lieutenant Horatio Caine ma'am"

"Dr Nikki Alexander" Nikki replied and shook his hand.

"Ah a doctor" he smiled and Nikki thought she might just melt there and then "Of medicine?"

"Yes" Nikki nodded and smiled at him, she found herself liking him and relaxing in his presence even though she had only just met him "Pathologist"

"Intelligent as well as beautiful" he smiled and Nikki felt herself blushing so violently she had to look away "Well as I said it's dangerous for a woman to be out alone at a time like this, do you not have a husband, partner?" he paused and looked down at the floor "Sorry that was too open of me"

"No it's fine" Nikki shrugged "and no I don't, I'm on holiday with my father. We..we've had arguments and difficulties ever since I was a child and we thought some time away together might help us to connect again"

"That's nice" Horatio nodded sincerely "But I refuse to believe that you don't have a partner of some sort waiting for you at home"

Nikki laughed loudly and shook her head

"Well you can believe all you want Lieutenant"

"Horatio"

"Horatio" Nikki nodded and stood up "Well I suppose as it's dangerous I better get back, I seem to attract danger like nobody's business"

"Allow me to escort you back to your hotel Dr Alexander" Horatio said as he stood up smiled at Nikki again causing her heart to melt into a puddle of goo in her chest, his blue eyes shining.

"Nikki" she grinned as they started to walk.

"So is this your first time to Miami?" Horatio asked her as they walked along the pathway by the beach.

"My first time to America actually" Nikki responded "I just needed to get away from London and from Har.." she stopped quickly "and to patch things up with my dad"

"So there is a man" Horatio smiled at Nikki who frowned and shook her head

"No it's complicated, he's a co-worker and something happened to make things tense between us"

"Oh okay then" Horatio nodded and dropped the subject, something Nikki was grateful for "So how long are you staying?"

"Well I have four months off but I don't know if we will spend all of it here" she stopped in front of the hotel that she and Victor was staying at and turned to her escort who smiled down at her "Well thank you"

"You are very welcome ma'am" Horatio nodded and lifted her hand to his lips so he could press a quick kiss onto the back "It's always a pleasure to help a beautiful woman"

Nikki felt herself blush again and looked down at the floor in embarrassment but felt a grin take over her face.

"Maybe we will bump into each other again before you go" Horatio shrugged

"Maybe" Nikki nodded 'I hope so' she thought and turned and placed her hand on the door "Thanks again"

Horatio just nodded and Nikki smiled and pushed the door open before walking through into the main lobby of the hotel.

* * *

**Yeah so this isn't major CSI:Miami crossover..just Horatio at the mo..I wanted to bond Nikki to someone else for a while and I thought considering they were in Miami the hot Lieutennant would be the obvious candidate....and for all those who watch CSI:Miami Horatio will be OOC so I apologise now XP**

**xxx**


	12. Chapter 12

"Okay so we have five bodies and we are no closer to even finding a suspect" Mumford sighed as everyone gathered in the layout room "Maybe if Dr Alexander was here she would..."

"Nikki is on leave" Leo interrupted "You know that"

"Maybe if we call her back" Mumford tried again "She had the idea about the bodies being..."

"Nikki has made it absolutely obvious that she wants nothing more to do with this case" Harry cut in and Leo gave him a look, Nikki had said no such thing "She has gone on four month leave and left us to fend for ourselves"

"Well it's not like we stop functioning once Nikki has gone" Leo argued, annoyed at what Harry had said "Well at least some of us don't"

"Sorry?" Harry asked and Mumford and Mays shared a look and shook their heads, the two pathologists had been at odds with each other ever since Nikki had left two weeks beforehand and everyone was getting sick of it.

"Will you two stop it?" Mays said loudly and Harry and Leo turned to him "Okay so Dr Alexander is away for a few months, how did you cope before she came? When it was just the two of you, did you argue all the time?" he didn't get a reply "I thought not, now will you stop acting like children and focus on the case, lives are in danger here"

-----

Mays was in a bad mood by the time he got out of the lab a few hours later. It was his wedding anniversary and he knew his wife would be kicking him out of the bed that evening for not spending it with her, not that it was his fault. He wandered down the street as he sipped his Starbucks coffee knowing that he was only delaying the inevitable as he dawdled on his way home. He glanced through one of the shop windows as he passed and did a double take as he choked on his coffee causing a passerby to stare at him before going on their way. He stared in shock for a moment as his eyes ran over the items in the shop before he made his way in through the door.

"Excuse me" he said to the man behind the counter who turned and gave him a warm smile "Those pictures..." he pointed to four pictures on the wall next to them "They're...different"

"Oh yes" the man nodded "However we have no idea who sends them, they just turned up anonymously but there is no law against selling them, even ones like that"

"Well" Mays said as he pulled out his police I.D badge and showed it to the man who looked unconcerned as he shrugged "I'll have to take them from your hands"

"Whatever" the man replied as he motioned for Mays to take them off the wall "They creep me out anyway"

'You have no idea' Mays thought as he pulled the canvases off the wall.

----

"Bloody hell" was the first thing Mumford said as Mays showed everyone what he had confiscated from the art store "He's painting them?"

----

"Well fancy meeting you here Dr Alexander" came a smooth voice from behind Nikki as she and Victor sat in a coffee shop discussing what they were doing for the day "May I join you?"

"Lieutenant" Nikki smiled at him and nodded "Of course"

Horatio pulled up a chair and held his hand out to Victor who looked from Nikki to the new man.

"Lieutenant Horatio Caine"

"Victor Alexander, Nikki's..."

"Father" Horatio interrupted and Victor looked shocked for a moment "Dr Alexander and I met a few nights ago and she said she was on holiday with her father"

"Ah so she does talk about me" Victor laughed and looked at the clock over the cafe door "Well look at the time, I have to be somewhere now. I'll see you later Niks?"

"Of course. I'll call you" Nikki nodded, knowing why he was leaving and knew he had got the wrong end of the stick, but let him leave without a fuss.

"So how are you liking Miami?" Horatio asked Nikki who smirked and shook her head

"Do you normally come in here Lieutenant?" she asked coyly and Horatio shrugged and fiddled with his sunglasses, his eyes sparkling.

"You caught me ma'am. I saw you coming in here about an hour ago on my way to the lab, I thought I'd get my team sorted there and come back and see if you were here"

"Oh really?" Nikki giggled as she leant forward and rested her arms on the table "To see me?"

"No to get a coffee" Horatio shrugged and Nikki laughed loudly making Horatio's heart jump slightly, something he hadn't felt in a long time "No seriously I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to see you again"

Nikki sighed sadly and shook her head.

"Lieutenant.."

"Horatio please" the red head interrupted

"Horatio look" Nikki started again and looked down at the table as she started to fiddle with the sugar pot in front of her "I've come out here to relax and get away from..everything. I don't think it's good to..."

"Okay" Horatio shrugged as Nikki trailed off and reached into his pocket before sliding a small white card across the table to her before standing up and giving her a smile "My number"

He then walked out of the cafe leaving Nikki with large smile on her face as she reached over and picked up the card and placed it in her pocket before downing the rest of her drink and walking out of the cafe as well. She looked around before seeing the distinct red hair further down the street and hurried to catch him up.

"Lieute...Horatio"

He turned around and gave Nikki a small smile that made her falter slightly and try to remember what she wanted to say to him.

"Yes Dr Alexander?" he asked in a low voice and Nikki had trouble breathing.

"I didn't give you my number" Nikki told him lamely and then sighed at her stupidity.

"No matter" Horatio shrugged and held his arm out for her which she took straight away "Would you accompany me to the lab where I can check on everyone before taking you out for some sort of food" he checked his watch "Brunch?"

"I would love to" Nikki nodded and Horatio gave her a smile before they carried on walking.

* * *

**I had to laugh so much at your reviews which consisted mainly of 'omg what are you doing? horatio and nikki? noooo!'...or things of the sort XP They really made my day and I'm still deciding whether or not to get them together..if only for a while just to let Nikki see how much Harry means to her. lol! Sorry guys!**

**xxx**


	13. Chapter 13

The men stared at the paintings with mixtures of shock, disgust and amazement running through them. They had hung the paintings in the layout room in the order that the bodies were found and the lab techs who walked through had all stopped and stared at them with different emotions on their faces before carrying on through to the cutting room.

"So did the man in the shop tell you who gave him the paintings?" Mumford asked Mays who rolled his eyes.

"No of course not otherwise we'd have had him dragged in by now" he replied and Mumford glared at him and was about to open his mouth to respond when Leo beat him to it.

"So he kills them and paints them" he said as if to himself "But so far the killings are random yes?"

"Yes" Mays nodded "Which as you know is bad because we don't know who to protect"

"Talk about a love of art gone too far" Harry mumbled into his hand and the other men had to agree with him "Maybe the shop owner does know who the artist is but is too...freaked out to say anything. I mean he has to know the inspiration came from somewhere and either the artist has a killer imagination" the other men groaned at the pun and Harry grinned before continuing "Or he has subjects to paint off and judging by these" he motioned to the paintings "and the bodies in the morgue I think it's the latter"

There was a silence throughout the room as Harry voiced what they were all thinking.

"So we talk to the shop owner and see if he knows anything else" Mumford nodded and turned to Mays "You can do that as you've talked to him before"

"Me?" Mays asked and Harry and Leo exchanged an exasperated look, oblivious to the fact that they were as bad as the two detectives "Just because I went into the shop and got the paintings doesn't make him my best friend now does it?"

"Well I was just saying that..."

"Get back to us once you've talked to him" Leo told the two policemen and he and Harry walked out of the room "My office please Harry"

Harry stopped walking and sighed loudly

"I have places to be"

"Yes in my office" Leo nodded and Harry groaned inwardly as he followed the older man into the room and closed the door behind him "Now I want to know why you are taking your frustration out on me"

"I'm not..."

"Yes you are" Leo interrupted "Ever since you admitted to me that you and Nikki slept together you have been taking your frustration out on me, you even brought Cassie into it"

Harry shuffled his feet slightly and shook his head.

"I'm sorry about that I really am but it's just.."

"Why don't you talk to Nikki?" Leo asked and Harry smirked and shook his head

"Because she's gone off for four months to God knows where and I won't be able to even talk to her for that long let alone apologise" Harry said loudly "I haven't talked to her in over two weeks Leo and it's tearing me up inside. Why?"

Leo knew why but he wasn't letting Harry off that easily

"Work it out for yourself" he shrugged as he sat down and leant back on the chair "and don't deny anything when you finally work it out"

-------

"So tell me about where you work" Horatio said to Nikki as they both sat on a bench by the beach one evening three weeks into her stay in Miami "I've told you about mine and even showed you but you haven't told me anything"

"Fine" Nikki sighed dramatically and Horatio smiled at her and laughed slightly "I started working there about five or six years ago now, I kind of gate crashed to use some of their software but I never actually left" she laughed and this made her ginger companion chuckle and nod at her to continue "They became my family really"

"They?"

"Harry and Leo" Nikki replied automatically then paused for a while "It's always us thee, Harry, Nikki and Leo we...we just click together you know? Like it was always meant to be us together as a team" she stopped then and turned to look out at the sea "We always had a laugh and to be honest with you they are the best friends I've ever had, especially Harry but then..." she bit her lip and shook her head before smiling and turning to him "Never mind"

"No go on" Horatio prompted and Nikki sighed and looked down at the ground

"We, Harry and I got drunk just before I left to come here and we slept together" she shrugged and Horatio cocked his head to one side before reaching over and lifting her head up with two of his fingers and leaning over to press a kiss onto her lips. Nikki found herself eagerly responded and reached up to run one hand through his hair and grip his shoulder with the other as she allowed him to deepen the kiss.

"You're so beautiful" Horatio whispered as he broke the kiss and Nikki blushed slightly before she leant up and gave him a quick kiss before he reached down and entwined their hands but somehow it felt different to the other hand that she normally held. Nikki shook this thought away, she was on holiday and was going to enjoy herself. Harry didn't run her life and she made a promise that she wouldn't think of him for the rest of her holiday "We don't have to do this, if he is on your mind..."

"No" Nikki said loudly and kissed him again "No he doesn't run my life and he's got nothing to do with us"

Horatio's blue eyes lit up when he heard this and Nikki felt her heart speed up when she saw.

"So" the red headed detective said slowly and Nikki cocked her head to one side to observe him "We can do this then?" he motioned between them and Nikki sighed and shrugged

"I would like too I really would but I'm only here for another three and a half or so months and I don't think...."

"Can we take each day as it comes?" Horatio interrupted, his smooth voice making Nikki turn to a pile of goo, the only other man to do that was...no...she wasn't thinking about him. She nodded and smiled at him before kissing him again.

"I'd like that"

* * *

**Sorry guys, had to happen XP**

**xxx**


	14. Chapter 14

When Nikki got back to the hotel she was in a very good mood, smiling to herself as she unlocked the door to her room she couldn't help to think back to what had happened earlier on.

"Niks" she looked towards where the sound of her father's voice came from and saw him walking down the corridor towards her "Where have you been?"

"I've.." she decided to tell him the truth as he reached her "Been with Horatio"

"Bonding with him are you?" Victor grinned and Nikki blushed and shook her head

"Dad" she cried and looked at her watch "How about we go out for..." her phone rang then and she frowned and pulled it out of her pocket. Her frown deepened when she saw the caller I.D and put it back into her pocket until it stopped ringing.

"Was that not important?" Victor asked as Nikki walked into her room and he followed before closing the door after him as Nikki shook her head.

"No" she said simply "How about we go out for dinner?"

"I'd like that" Victor nodded "How about you invite Lieutenant Caine"

"He's working" Nikki shook her head

"Maybe some other time then"

------

Harry growled slightly and threw his mobile onto his desk in frustration as Nikki didn't pick up her phone, he then leant back in his chair and ran one hand over his face as he sighed. He felt like he had lost half of himself in the two and a bit weeks that Nikki had been away and he still didn't know why, she was his best friend, well she was before they had their argument so he shouldn't be feeling like that. The case was also taking over his life, more than they normally did, and he realised it had been Nikki who had stopped him getting so involved in the cases.

"Harry there's been another one" Leo said as he burst into the lab, ignoring the pained look on the younger pathologist's face as he rushed into his office for his coat "This one is quite nasty"

"and the other ones haven't been?" Harry mumbled and Leo just shrugged

"This one has lost his head" the older man told him and Harry shrugged, he didn't have the energy or the willpower to be disgusted at that moment in time.

"How do you know it's the same killer?" he asked as he stood up and picked up his phone from the desk.

"We don't" Leo replied "We're waiting for a painting to turn up"

"Right" Harry nodded and didn't say another word as they both walked to the car park.

------

"So who was the phone call from?" Victor asked as he sat across the table from Nikki who held a glass of wine in her hand, she just shrugged.

"That doesn't matter"

"It was Dr Cunningham wasn't it" it was more of a statement than a question and Nikki slammed her glass down on the table causing her father to jump slightly.

"Wherever I go all I hear is _his _name" she hissed and Victor shook his head and went to apologise but Nikki kept talking "I come to Miami and he still bloody follows me" her eyes glazed over with tears and she had to blink and look down at the table to stop herself breaking "Why does he do it dad? Why is he the only man that can reduce me to tears like this? When I was a teenager I promised myself never to cry over a man because they are stupid creations who are not worth the tears"

Victor knew why Harry affected his daughter the way he did but didn't know how to tell her why. He sighed and shook his head.

"Nikki you..you have to work it out by yourself"

"I don't want to" Nikki sniffed and wiped her face where some tears had leaked from her eyes "I just want to..I just want to enjoy my holiday and forget all about him"

That evening Nikki lay curled up in her bed unable to sleep, her mind kept straying and she kept trying to force it and into sleep but failed. Her phone rang from the bedside table and she reached up to see who it was, instead of ignoring it like the last caller, she smiled and answered it.

"Hello"

"_Hello" _came Horatio's smooth voice down the phone _"I was just ringing to see how you are"_

"I'm fine" Nikki replied and rolled onto her back and ran her free hand through her hair and sighed "I'm just...I'm fine"

"_You sound upset"_

"I'm not" Nikki choked out and took a deep breath to stop herself breaking down again "I'm fine"

"_I know you're not sweetheart but I'm going to drop it for now" _Horatio told her _"Would you meet me for breakfast tomorrow?"_

"I'd like that" Nikki replied and the first real smile for a long time grew on her face.

"_Good, I'll meet you at the cafe we had our first drink together in. Nine o'clock okay for you Nikki?"_

"That's fine Horatio, gives me a chance to make myself presentable" she joked and Horatio chuckled making Nikki's stomach do a flip.

"_You look beautiful anyway" _was all he said and Nikki blushed _"I'll see you tomorrow"_

"Okay, bye" Nikki said slowly

"_Sleep well sweetheart" _Horatio added before he hung up and Nikki smiled to herself as she put her phone back on the bedside table and turned over in bed, sleep soon claimed her.

-------

"Any sign of a painting yet?" Leo asked Mays and Mumford as they all stood around the cutting room looking at pictures of the latest case, a beheaded man who died at least two days previously and not where he had been found.

"Not yet" Mays replied, he had lost the argument with Mumford about which one of them would be in charge of the shop "I've told the owner to call when, if, it does come in but I can't afford to put plain clothed officers around the area all the time"

"This is just crap" Mumford said suddenly and the other three men looked at him "We've been chasing this bastard for over a month now and we haven't got any evidence to link to _anyone _at all. We don't even know how he chooses his victims"

"So far they are random" Harry interjected "Which is even worse"

"I think you should get Nikki back" Mumford said and Leo shook his head

"_Dr Alexander" _he stressed these two words for Mumford's sake "Has taken time off as I have told you and she won't be coming back for another three or so months"

"But this is important" Mumford said loudly "She can help us"

"Nikki is on leave and I am not calling her back just to chase a serial killer, we can do it on our own"

"Well you're doing a damn fine job of it, how many dead already and you haven't found any evidence yet?" Mumford yelled at Leo who didn't reply to this.

"May I suggest we all take the _entire _weekend off?" Mays asked as he held his hands up "We are getting stressed by this case and there is no way we can keep working together on it if we are at each other's throats all the time" he shot a pointed look at Harry and Leo who refused to look at each other.

"Good idea" Harry nodded before turning and walking out of the room.

* * *

**Nikki/Horatio fluff for you all because I know how much you love it XP**

**xxx**


	15. Chapter 15

"The painting was delivered last night" Mays called the next Monday morning as he rushed into the lab where Harry was sitting at his desk brooding over the fact that Nikki hadn't even spoken to him or Leo in nearly three weeks. It hurt him to think that they hadn't had a chance to patch things up before she went and knew how quickly things could go wrong, if anything happened to anyone of them...he was pulled out of this thought by Mays' shout and threw the pen he was doodling with on the desk and jumped up.

-------

Nikki was caught between horror and disgust as she slammed the door to her hotel room shut and made her way down the corridor to the stairs. Blinking back tears she tried to stop herself crying and had to take a deep breath as she paused at the top of the steps to stop her doing so. She then made her way down the stairs and out of the hotel into the bright Miami light where she saw Horatio leaning against his car on the opposite side of the street. Carefully crossing over the road she walked over to him and he turned and gave her a small smile before seeing the look on her face and frowned.

"Nikki what is wrong?" he asked as he automatically wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him as she started to cry into his chest "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Can we..just...I..can't..." Nikki choked out as she pulled away slightly and the red headed detective gently pushed a stray piece of her blonde hair behind her ear and rested his hand on her cheek.

"Shall we go to my house and you can tell me?" he asked quietly as his blue eyes bored into her brown ones "I want to help you"

Nikki only nodded and Horatio reached into his pocket and handed her a tissue before taking her hand, guiding her round to the passenger side door, opening it for her, and helping her into the car. He then shut the door and returned to the driver's side and climbed in, he glanced at Nikki and saw her staring absentmindedly out of the window and glaring at the hotel she had just walked out of.

-------

"Have you hear from Nikki?" Harry asked Leo as they stood around waiting for Mumford to turn up, this was the most he had said to the older pathologist in a while but Leo wasn't surprised to hear the first thing he talked to him about was Nikki.

"No" he shook his head "But I suppose she just wants a clean break for a few months"

Harry made a voice in the back of his throat and his day was made even worse by Mumford walking into the room half an hour late with a cheerful grin on his face, what made it even worse was the fact that Harry knew what put it there.

'At least someone is getting some' he thought bitterly and tuned back into what Mays was saying about the new painting.

"Have we found the head yet?" Leo asked either of the two detectives who both shook their heads.

"We're still searching but nothing yet" Mumford told Leo who just nodded.

"The shop owner said that he turned up to the shop this morning" Mays got them back on track "and this" he pointed to the painting that was laying in a clear evidence bag on the table in front of the "Was in a box on the doorstep"

Harry cocked his head to one side to look at the painting properly and saw the exact same body they currently had in the morgue looking up at him. He felt sick all of a sudden and had to look away as it suddenly struck him will full force that whoever was murdering these people was doing it just for the sick pleasure of painting them.

"From what I can tell" Leo was saying when Harry tuned back in "The head was severed with a serrated blade, a saw maybe and it was done when the victim was alive"

"Which constitutes all the blood in the picture" Harry pointed out as he took another look at it "and the fact that there was hardly any blood at the crime scene"

"Have any more of the bodies been identified yet?" Mays asked and Leo nodded and flicked through some paper in front of him

"Jane Doe one has been identified by her boyfriend as Jessica Winters"

"Why didn't he come in before now?"

"He was on holiday in Australia visiting his family at the time of the murder. I didn't tell him how her body was found" Leo replied and the other three men agreed that that was the right decision.

------

"So what happened?" Horatio asked softly as he handed Nikki a mug of coffee and seated himself next to her, but not too close "I hate to see you like this"

"My father" Nikki choked out and placed the mug on the table next to the sofa "I thought..we.." she blinked away some tears and shook her head as Horatio reached out and gripped her hand tightly with one of his "He..he always does this to me. I don't know why I tried with him I really don't" she choked out "A few years ago he was released from prison, fraud, and he disappeared from my life. Then he comes back and says that a friend of his died and he wanted my help in confirming who caused her death" she paused and looked at Horatio who nodded and let her continue "He lied to me and said she was a friend, she was his bloody wife and she was younger than me" she said loudly and the red headed man gripped her hand tightly and ran his thumb over the top of it "Then just now I went to his room to see if he wanted to go out for a drink or something and a young blonde woman opens the door dressed in his dressing gown" Nikki broke then and started to sob "He's so bloody useless, I wish I had never tried to sort things out with him"

Horatio didn't say anything but moved closer to Nikki and wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her into him. Nikki reached up and gripped the front of his shirt and cried into his chest, gripping onto him like her life depended on it as her body shook with her sobs.

"Shh" Horatio whispered as he rocked her gently and ran one hand over her head repeatedly as she cried "You tried Nikki, no-one can fault you for that"

"But..I so..wanted to..sort things..out" she sobbed and took in a deep breath to try and stop herself crying.

"I know you did" the detective nodded and reached down to press a soft kiss onto her forehead and Nikki automatically leant into his touch and sighed "I'm sorry"

"It's not you who needs to apologise" Nikki mumbled and looked up at him and gave him a smile which made his heart jump. He then leant down and captured her lips under his own and Nikki allowed him to deepen the kiss straight away before reaching up to run one hand through his hair as the other went to his shoulder and pulled him closer. Nikki then started to work on the buttons of Horatio's shirt and he pulled away from her and looked at her questioningly, Nikki only smiled in response and nodded to the detective's silent question before he kissed her again.

* * *

**Because I knew you all wanted Nikki to sleep with him XP and you all love Nikki/Horatio...I am so evil sometimes. lol! and I thought that Victor had been nice for too long :D**

**xxx**


	16. Chapter 16

"So are you going to talk to your father?" Horatio asked later on as they lay curled up in his bed, Nikki with her head on his chest and him with one arm around her back waist, the other running gently through her blonde hair. She sighed and shifted so she was looking up at him and Horatio gave her a smile which made her stomach feel funny and shook her head.

"Don't want to" she mumbled and moved closer to him "I want to stay in bed with you"

Horatio chuckled which Nikki felt more than heard and she gave him a small smile and sighed.

"I don't think I can face him right now" she said quietly and Horatio just nodded and shifted slightly "I just..I thought he had really changed"

"Don't think about it now" the detective told her and Nikki leant up on her elbows and looked down at him with a small smile on her face. Horatio returned the smile and ran one hand up her arm causing Nikki to shiver slightly and lean down to press a kiss onto his lips.

"I have to ring Leo" she suddenly said when she pulled away "I left them in the middle of a case and it's been driving me insane not knowing how they are doing"

"Workaholic" Horatio told her good naturedly making Nikki giggle and blush slightly

"Why do you think I'm still un-married, no man will have a workaholic like me?" she joked and Horatio shook his head when he saw the underlying sadness in her eyes. He reached up and placed one hand on her cheek and stroked it gently with his thumb, he smiled when he felt her lean into the touch.

"I'm sure there are many men lining up for you in England" he said and Nikki was taken back to the night in the pub where her and Harry had had a conversation like this, she didn't like where this one was going.

"Just as I've already told you, I don't have men lining up for me back in England" Nikki replied tersely and Horatio knew he had said something wrong when he heard her tone of voice.

"I'm sorry" he whispered as Nikki sat up in the bed and shrugged slightly. He too sat up and moved closer to her before wrapping one arm around her waist and pressing small kisses onto her naked shoulder making her shiver slightly and turn to him with a small smile on her face.

"That's alright" she told him quietly and pressed a kiss onto his lips "It's just that someone else told me that once and..." she stopped talking and shrugged again "Don't you have work?"

"No I got a few days off" Horatio replied into her neck as he started to kiss her neck and pull her closer "I think everyone was pretty shocked"

"And you call me a workaholic" Nikki laughed but gasped as the detective pushed her back onto the bed and covered her lips with his.

Later on when Horatio was in the shower, Nikki made her mind up about calling Leo, reached over to where her phone was and picked it up. Hesitantly pressing the speed dial for Leo's desk phone she looked at the time and worked out that he would still be at work. It rang a few times and then it was picked up.

"_Dalton"_

Nikki was shocked by how tired he sounded and wondered if it was right of her to be on holiday when he was like that.

"Hey Leo" she said brightly "I was just ringing to..." she paused, she didn't know why she was ringing really "To see how you are and how the case is going"

Leo sighed loudly and Nikki heard his chair squeak as he leant back in it.

"_It's...getting complicated. We've had a few more bodies since you've been away and we've just found out that the killer is painting them"_

It took a few seconds for this to sink into Nikki's head.

"Painting them?" she asked incredulously and Leo muttered something in response

"_Mays found the shop where he was depositing the paintings but the owner has no idea who it is, he just turns up and they are sitting on the doorstep"_

Nikki blew out a long breath and shook her head

"Do you want me to come back? You sound awful"

"_Thank you Nikki you are so kind" _Leo chuckled and Nikki had to laugh along with him _"I'm fine, it's Harry you should be worried about"_

"Why?" Nikki asked slowly, worry shooting through her as she thought about something being wrong with Harry even though they weren't on speaking terms.

"_He's just been different" _Leo told her and Nikki knew he was regretting even bringing the subject up _"We've been arguing and we've both said things to each other that we, well I, regret"_

"I.." Nikki started but found she didn't know what to say

"_But that's enough of my whining" _Leo interrupted her thoughts _"How are you? Are you having fun?"_

"I am...fine" Nikki replied and lay back on the bed as she heard the shower stop "Me and dad we, well we were doing fine then I found him with a young blonde woman in his hotel room. And I thought we were sorting things out"

"_Oh Nikki I'm sorry" _Leo sighed but deep down he was happy about this, the other part of him hated himself for being happy but he found he didn't care.

"Yeah" Nikki sighed and looked towards the door where Horatio had just walked in wearing only a towel. She swallowed heavily when she saw his still wet, very toned, chest and he sent her a smile which made her insides jump.

"Who is that?" Horatio asked as he walked over and perched on the end of the bed, he knew exactly what he was doing and grinned when Nikki glared at him.

"_Who is that?" _Leo repeated sounding shocked

"Leo that's..."

"Lieutenant Horatio Caine sir" Horatio called out and Nikki tried to move the phone away from his reach as he leant over "I've heard all about you" he said loudly and Nikki squealed as he reached for the phone.

"Don't you dare Horatio" she laughed as she rolled off the other side of the bed and onto her feet, trying to ignore the fact that the towel had slipped off her lover and he was sitting completely naked in front of her "Sorry Leo that's Horatio, he's..."

"_You don't have to explain Nikki" _Leo replied and Nikki thought she heard a note of disappointment in his voice _"You sound happy"_

Nikki thought about this for a minute then sighed and nodded as she realised she was.

"Yeah I am" but something in the back of her mind made her doubt herself but she shook this off "Look can you not tell...Harry, anything"

"_Not if you don't want me to Nikki I promise but you'll have to talk to him at some point"_

"I know" Nikki whispered, that was what she was dreading.

* * *

**More Horatio/Nikki fluff for you all XP Don't worry I have a plan for the next chapter which I think you will all like.**

**xxx**


	17. Chapter 17

"Did you have to do that?" Nikki asked as she hung up the phone and reached out to slap her lover on the chest as he chuckled and reached up to grab her hand quickly and pull her closer to him causing her to giggle and send a rush of something through Horatio.

"I just, I don't know" he shrugged as he pushed her down onto the bed and looked down at her with a small smile on his face as he moved aside his dressing gown so Nikki was naked under him "I just wanted someone to know about us that's all"

He then leant down, pressed his lips to hers and smiled into the kiss as he felt her grip his shoulder's tightly and pull him closer to her.

---------

"Who was that on the phone?" Harry asked as he leant on the doorframe of Leo's office as the older man put the phone down.

"Just a friend" Leo shrugged as he sorted through some papers on his desk trying not to look at Harry because he knew he wouldn't be able to lie to his face.

"It was Nikki" Harry stated and Leo sighed slightly and nodded "How is she?"

"She's fine" was all Leo said, he wanted to respect Nikki's wishes about not telling Harry anything but he knew it was wrong to leave the younger man out of the picture "She's having a good time. Is there any new evidence from the painting?"

------

Harry felt empty. That's the only way he could describe how he had been feeling in the past month since Nikki had left. He downed half a glass of red wine in one go then poured himself another as he tried to stop himself from thinking about the woman he had...no he wasn't going to think about it. He sniffed slightly and realised his vision had gone blurry and that his eyes had filled with tears, he put it down to the fact that he had almost finished drinking a whole bottle of wine and wasn't in control of his emotions.

"Keep telling yourself that Harry" he said to himself, his words slurring slightly

-------

Nikki frowned as she sat on the sofa in Horatio's living room, the man in question was still asleep upstairs in the bed. She curled her legs under her body and bit her lip gently as she fiddled with the sleeve of her t-shirt. Nikki felt something for Horatio, something she had never felt before.

'Liar' her mind hissed and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried not to think of Harry. In all truth he was the first man who had stirred these feelings in her but then they had messed their relationship up and Horatio had come into the picture, but the fact was that Harry was always on the front of her mind whether she wanted him to be or not. Burying her face in her hands she let out a quiet sob and tried to stop the tears that ran down her face.

"Nikki?" came a quiet voice from the doorway and she turned quickly and saw Horatio standing in the doorway with a frown on his face "What's wrong sweetheart?"

"I can't..do this..any..more..Horatio" she sobbed and he sat next to Nikki, pulled her into his arms and rocked her gently.

"Do what?" he asked quietly but deep down he knew what she was talking about "Us?"

Nikki nodded and let out anther sob as she clung to him, Horatio felt his heart break slightly when he felt this action but couldn't help but lean down and press a kiss onto her head.

"It's alright" he whispered but Nikki shook her head and looked up at him

"No it's not because I..I really really like you Horatio and I know we have only known each other a month but..."

"I love you" Horatio blurted out suddenly, something rare for him but this made Nikki cry harder and shake her head.

"And I love you but not as much..." she paused and stood up before walking over to the window and leaning on the windowsill.

"As Harry" Horatio completed for her and Nikki nodded "I was afraid of this but I knew it all along"

"How?" Nikki asked quietly and turned her head slightly to look at him

"There was one time that you called out his name" Horatio told her as he looked her in the eye and Nikki blushed slightly and turned away to look out of the window again.

"I'm sorry" Nikki cried as she bit her lip but this didn't stop the sob that escaped her "I shouldn't have led you on"

"Don't talk like that" Horatio told her "You make yourself sound like some sort of..." he stopped and shook his head "I think you should call him and explain"

"I can't" Nikki whispered tearfully as she turned and face the detective, her arms crossed in a defensive manner and she shook her head "He hates me"

"I am sure he doesn't" Horatio shook his head and stood up before walking over to her and wrapped his arms securely around her "Call him. Please?"

"You're not.." Nikki bit her lip and looked away but Horatio gently moved her head so she was looking at him.

"Just..tell him to treat you right or he'll have me to answer to" he told her and Nikki saw his eyes were glazed over as she gave him a watery laugh and nodded "I don't think you want to stay for another two months do you?" he asked quietly and Nikki shook her head this time and shrugged.

"I don't know. I mean I came here to patch things up with my father but look how that turned out" she said bitterly and Horatio moved away from her and gave her one of his smiles and inclined his head slightly.

"You'll always be special to me Nikki" he told her and Nikki bit back a sob as she nodded "Maybe we can still be friends?"

"I'd like that" Nikki nodded again and Horatio leant down to press a kiss onto her cheek before turning away quickly and taking a deep breath "Thank you for everything"

"Thank _you_" Horatio replied before nodding as Nikki walked past him and into the hallway, he followed her and leant on the front door as she walked out of the house "If you ever need anything" he called after her "I'll be here"

Nikki just nodded and made her way down the path and into the street where she made her way in the direction of the hotel, she hoped she would catch her father.

* * *

**Thought you might like that :D No more Horatio/Nikki XP The Harry/Nikki shipper inside me couldn't keep them together any longer**

**xxx**


	18. Chapter 18

When Nikki got back to the hotel she didn't feel like talking to her father at all so she passed by his room and walked down the corridor to her own. She had just come from downstairs in the hotel where they had a room full of computers and had booked the first flight she could find out of Miami and back to England, her father be damned. She sat down heavily on her bed and took her mobile out of her pocket before finally giving in and pressing Harry's number on speed dial, it was picked up after a few rings.

"_Hello?" _he obviously hadn't looked at the caller I.D. Nikki was shocked at how dejected and just depressed his sounded.

"Harry, it's me" she said quietly and she heard Harry move quickly down the phone as he replied

"_Nikki..what..is anything wrong? Are you okay?" _he asked quickly and Nikki felt a lump rise in her throat as she heard his obvious concern for her.

"I'm fine Harry I just..I want to say sorry" she choked out and had to bite back a sob as she heard her best friend's and, who she hoped one day would be something more, voice "For everything I did to hurt you"

"_Oh Nikki"_ Harry breathed _"It's fine, I'm sorry for hurting you. I should never have done it and it's been eating away at me"_

"I'm coming home" Nikki told him suddenly "Tomorrow, I should be at the airport by about seven in the evening"

"_So something is wrong"_ Harry stated, concern seeping back into his voice _"Please tell me what's wrong"_

"It's dad" Nikki replied bitterly "I caught him with a younger woman, a very younger woman and I just...I couldn't deal with that"

"_Oh I'm sorry Nikki"_ Harry whispered _"Are you alright though?"_

"I'm fine Harry" Nikki chuckled "How have you been?"

There was a long silence which spoke volumes for Nikki and she sighed loudly.

"I need someone to pick me up from the airport" she changed the subject and stood up to pull her suitcase onto the bed and opened it to get ready to pack "I know you're busy with the case and everything but..."

"I'll pick you up Nikki" Harry chuckled "What I do for you. I should charge you but as your best friend I do it for love"

Nikki laughed slightly but her heart jumped when she heard him say that.

"The plane arrives at Heathrow at seven" she repeated the information for Harry "Thank you"

"You don't need to thank me Nikki" Harry replied "I've missed you"

"I've missed you" Nikki choked out and had to take a deep breath to stop herself breaking down as she spoke to him. What would he think of her? "I'll see you tomorrow Harry"

"Okay Nikki" Harry sounded disappointed at ending the conversation "See you soon. I..."

Nikki hung up quickly before she could say something she would regret and threw her phone on the bed before sitting down and burying her face in her hands. Taking a deep breath she looked up and glanced at her suitcase that was laying next to her on the bed and realised it wouldn't pack itself. However when she stood up there was a knock at the door and she wandered over to see who it was.

"Oh it's you" Nikki said monotonously as she saw her father standing outside her door "Come back later I'm packing"

"Packing Niks?" Victor asked and pushed his way into the room and Nikki slammed the door behind him "Where are you going?"

"Home" Nikki stated "Where I am appreciated and wanted"

"What about Lieutenant Caine?"

"He understands" Nikki said shortly and opened a drawer to pull out her folded t-shits and put them in the suitcase.

"I didn't want you to see what you did" Victor told his daughter and she scoffed and shook her head.

"Well I did and that's the end of it" Nikki shrugged

"I was going to explain but you stormed off"

Nikki turned around and took a deep breath to stop herself losing her temper, she then turned around and shook her head.

"No" she said "You've had hours since I caught you and you haven't even tried to contact me"

"I..." Victor couldn't think of anything to say so he looked down at the floor "What about me?"

"What about you?" Nikki snapped as she put her trousers in the case "It's always about you"

"How am I going to get back to England?"

Nikki noted that he didn't say 'home' as she shrugged and shook her head.

"Not my problem, you'll find a way to crawl back to me. You always do. Now will you get out" she pointed to the door and Victor swallowed heavily before nodding and without another word walked out of the room. Nikki felt herself shocked that she felt no remorse for doing that to him and went about finishing packing. The quicker she got back to England the better.

--------

"Nikki's coming back tomorrow" was the first thing Harry said to Leo when he saw him next and the older man was shocked.

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"She had an argument with her father and wants to come home" Harry shrugged but Leo could see a light in his eyes he hadn't seen in a while "I'm sorry for how I have been acting in the past month or so" he then held his hand out to Leo who readily shook it and gave the younger man a smile which was returned.

"You seem happy" Leo knew why of course but he wasn't letting on to Harry that he did

"I am" Harry shrugged "Nikki's coming home"

* * *

**No more Horatio from now on...I'm sure you are all devistated by that .**

**xxx**


	19. Chapter 19

Harry couldn't concentrate the next day as all he could think about was seeing Nikki again, a whole month since he had seen her and it seemed like a lifetime. He had realised that since they had met this was definitely the longest time they had spent apart and he had hated it.

"Harry will you concentrate"

Leo's voice broke through his thoughts but when he looked up at the older man he realised that he was smiling instead of looking angry.

"Look you might as well go home, you're not concentrating and you could do something wrong"

" No I need to ...okay" he agreed quickly in the end and stood up before give Leo a grateful smile and a nod "I'll see you tomorrow"

"Say hi to Nikki for me" Leo called out as the younger man pushed open the double doors and Harry raised a hand to show Leo he had heard.

-----

Later that evening when Harry was sitting at the airport waiting for Nikki his heart was hammering in his chest, he couldn't wait to see her and he just hoped that the plane wasn't delayed, knowing their luck it would be. He smiled to himself when he realised how cheesy their situation was, he was waiting at the airport for his best friend to come back home, to him it sounded like one of those lovey dovey romantic films, but he found he didn't care.

"Well hello to you as well Harry" came a voice from next to him and he jumped and stood up quickly when he heard the voice and turned to see Nikki standing with a grin on her face "You were miles away there"

"Nikki" he grinned and automatically wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug "I'm so sorry for everything that happened"

"So am I" Nikki nodded as she lay her head on his chest and hugged him tighter "Can we start from the beginning again?"

Harry didn't say anything but leant down and pressed his lips onto hers in a spontaneous action he knew would earn him a slap and a telling off but he didn't care. To his surprise Nikki responded eagerly and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer to her and allowed him to deepen the kiss. When the need for air became apparent Harry reluctantly broke the kiss and leant his forehead on Nikki's, both of them breathing heavily. Nikki blushed under his intense gaze and looked around them, only then did they remember that they were in the middle of a busy airport. Nikki giggled slightly and Harry took this as a good sign and pressed another kiss to her lips.

"We need to talk properly" Nikki warned him and Harry only nodded and reached behind her for her suitcase then took her hand in his and lead her towards the exit of the airport, both feeling happier than they had in a while.

-------

"You must be exhausted" Harry told Nikki as they drove along in the direction of their houses "Do you want to go straight home?"

"No" Nikki shook her head and turned to look at him "I want to go to yours, I want to talk to you"

She sounded so serious that Harry was suddenly quite worried but she must have realised and reached over to lay her hand on his arm and gave him a smile.

"I just...need to tell you things" she shrugged and Harry shot her a quick glance and nodded before returning the smile.

------

"So what do you want to talk about?" Harry asked as he sat himself next to Nikki on his sofa, Nikki clutching at a mug of coffee tightly.

"I want to be completely honest with you Harry" Nikki started and reached over to place her mug on the coffee table in front of them "In Miami there was..someone else. He was nice and" she paused and shrugged not looking at Harry, she didn't want to see the look on his face "we had something but I broke it off"

"Nikki don't think you _have_ to tell me this" Harry said softly "If you don't want to then..."

"Harry please I don't want you to find out that I have kept this from you and have another argument" Nikki interrupted and Harry placed his hand on her cheek and gently moved her head so she was looking at him. He ran his eyes over her face and then just nodded slightly.

"Why did you break it off?" he asked quietly and Nikki looked him straight in the eyes as she replied.

"Because he wasn't you"

Harry didn't say anything to answer this but he leant down and pressed his lips onto Nikki's. Despite her surprise Nikki reached up and gripped his shoulder with one hand and ran the other through his hair and allowed him to pull her closer. Deciding that she wasn't close enough to him Nikki climbed onto his lap and allowed Harry to deepen the kiss as he wrapped one arm around her back and the other ran down her side and rested on her hip.

"I've missed..you...so much" Harry muttered through the kiss and broke away when air became a problem "But I'm not going to mess this" he motioned to himself and Nikki "up. I'm going to do things the proper way, court you like a gentleman should court a beautiful woman like you"

Nikki's eyes filled with tears when she heard this and saw the sincerity in his eyes and absentmindedly fiddled with the collar of his shirt in nervousness.

"No-one..they've never..." Nikki swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat and Harry used two fingers to push her chin up to look at him.

"How about I take you home so you can get some rest and then I can cook for you tomorrow?" Harry suggested and Nikki gave him a smile and a nod.

"I'd like that" she told him quietly "Thank you Harry"

He knew that was for more than just cooking her dinner but just nodded and pressed another kiss onto her lips. He felt her smile when he did this and knew that made everything worth it, he loved it when Nikki smiled, it made him feel as though he had done something right. Nikki yawned as she broke away from him and blushed slightly.

"Am I boring you my dear?" Harry joked and Nikki hit him lightly on the chest and shook her head "Come on, let's get you home"

* * *

**Well she's back! :D I couldn't not write Harry/Nikki fluff any longer so there will be loads to make up for the angst XP**

**xxx**


	20. Chapter 20

"How's Nikki?" Leo asked the next morning when Harry walked into the lab and walked over to his desk.

"Oh good morning Harry how are you?" Harry joked and raised an eyebrow at the pointed look that Leo gave him "She's fine, she was tired last night so I took her straight home"

"Where else were you going to take her?" Leo asked incredulously but Harry was saved from having to answer when Mumford walked into the lab, Harry, for once, was grateful to see him.

"Where is it this time?" he heard Leo ask exasperatedly and looked up to see the older man look at him and shake his head. Harry knew what was wrong and let out a loud sigh, trying not to imagine what state the body was in.

"It's not nice" Mumford told them as Harry walked over to the other two men "The body..it's not identifiable as male or female, it just looks like a lump of char grilled meat"

"Excuse me?" Harry asked and shook his head "What am I missing?"

"Body was found in the front garden of an elderly lady's home this morning by the postman" Mumford told Harry with a sigh of frustration that Harry just ignored "Burnt beyond all recognition"

"But we can't be sure it's the work of our killer" Harry told him and frowned when Mumford held up a plastic evidence bag with a canvas in it "Or not" the pathologist mumbled and glared slightly at the detective who had a smirk on his face from getting one up on Harry.

'Damn you' Harry thought as Mumford and Leo walked in the direction of the layout room 'But I have Nikki and you don't' that was consolation for anything in Harry's book. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out and grinned when he saw Nikki's name on the screen. Opening the text his grin grew but he had to stifle it when a passing lab tech gave him a weird look. It read 'Morning Harry, coming to see Leo today about coming back to work soon. See you later. Love Nikki xxxx'

"Only four kisses" Harry mumbled to himself and shook his head, he wanted more than that. 'God I sound like a bloody teenager with a crush' he thought but he knew it went much deeper than that but didn't care one little bit.

'Morning gorgeous' he typed back as he walked over to the layout room 'Leo may want you back straight away, we've just had another one, so be warned. See you later, I'm taking you out for lunch somewhere if you are up for it. Love Harry xxxxxxx'

Pushing the door to the layout room open he walked in and replaced his phone in his pocket.

"I'll take this one if you want Harry" Leo told him and Harry just shrugged and nodded as his eyes were glued onto the newest painting in the room. There were flames all around the canvas and in the middle was a painting of a burning body, the victim obviously in the throes of death at the time, his, the painting showed him to be male as he was completely naked, face contorted in agony.

His phone vibrated again pulling Harry out of the trance like state he was in and he was thankful for that, he didn't want to think about the victim and what he went through more than was necessary. He looked down at the phone and smiled.

'Where are you taking me? You know I hate surprises. N xxxxxx'

Harry counted the numbers of kisses on the end and was happy to see that he now had six instead of four. He knew it was only a small detail but he liked small details.

'Can't tell you. It's a surprise. Leo is going to a scene soon. H xxxxxxx'

Harry's smile grew as he sent the message and he looked up to see he was alone in the room and that the two other men had already gone. Shrugging he walked back into the lab and over to his desk where he had received the results of the tox tests of the latest few victims. He sat down and leant back on the chair before picking the folder up and flicking through it. His phone vibrated again.

'Fine then. I'll call him later. N xxxx'

Harry frowned when he read this and wondered if she was angry at him.

'Are you angry? Xxxxxxx'

He didn't get a text for the next fifteen minutes and was starting to worry that she was angry at him for some reason but jumped when a voice next to him said:

"No I'm not angry at you"

"God Nikki do you want to give me a heart attack?" Harry joked as Nikki grinned down at him and reached out to run one hand through his hair lovingly "What are you doing here?"

"I was at home bored, I woke up at the same time I normally do and couldn't get back to sleep" Nikki explained and squealed slightly when Harry pulled her onto his lap "Harry someone could..." she was cut off by Harry's lips on hers "Don't you have work?" she asked as she pulled away and tried to climb off his lap but Harry wrapped one arm around her waist and refused to let her go "Harry" she giggled making Harry's heart jump.

"I would rather sit here with you and do work" Harry informed her and Nikki frowned and shook her head.

"You have to find a murderer" she informed him "How did the newest one die?" she asked softly and Harry shrugged and pulled her closer to him again.

"Burnt to death by the look of it" Harry replied and Nikki couldn't suppress a shudder as she heard this and moved closer to Harry who wrapped his other arm around her when he realised something was wrong "What's wrong?"

"That's just my biggest fear" she mumbled "Burning alive. It makes me feel sick even thinking about it"

"Nothing it going to happen to you" Harry told her and leant up to press a kiss onto her temple "I promise"

"Thank you" Nikki whispered and leant down to kiss him on the lips "You make me feel safe"

"I'm glad I do" Harry nodded and gave her a grin that made her stomach do a flip.

* * *

**Back to the Harry/Nikki fluff XP It comes so naturally now it's pretty scary. lol!**

**xxx**


	21. Chapter 21

Nikki didn't get a chance to speak to Leo until after lunch that day, a lunch that she and Harry had had in a very nice restaurant, catching up on things and just enjoying their time together.

"Nikki come in" Leo smiled as she knocked on his office door and poked her head inside to see a very tired looking Leo sitting at his desk staring blankly out of the window "How are you?"

"Better than I was" Nikki replied and Leo didn't know whether she meant better than before her trip or better now she was away from her father. He didn't ask "When can I come back to work?"

"As soon as possible" was Leo's quick response, he looked her over and saw some sort of happiness in her eyes that hadn't been there before her holiday "I take it you are up to date on the case"

"Yes" Nikki nodded "and you don't need to worry about me and Harry, we've sorted things out between us"

"Good" Leo smiled "You can come back tomorrow"

"You have no idea how much I have missed this place" Nikki laughed as she sat back in her chair and Leo chuckled when he heard this "I didn't realise how much I would until I left"

"There's a name for someone like that" Leo told her and smiled at her "Workaholic"

"Pot, kettle, black?" was all Nikki said as she tried to stop herself grinning but failed dramatically and laughed along with her friend "Do you have any leads at all?" she asked suddenly, changing the subject.

"None at all" Leo responded with a shake of the head "Although the art shop owner is of course a suspect, considering the paintings turn up at his shop but we have seen no-one deliver them"

--------

It was raining and I was displeased with that fact. Sitting on a bench in the middle of a park in the rain does nothing for anyone and for that simple fact there was no-one around apart from me. I turned my head to look down the path but the rain got heavier and I sighed loudly and drew my coat tighter around me. However this did no good as I was already soaked through and could feel my clothes sticking to me, my hair plastered against my head and face. Letting out a deep breath I stood up and was about to walk back down the path when a voice behind me caught me by surprise slightly.

"Excuse me do you have any spare change?" the obviously homeless man asked me and I gave him a wide smile as I reached into my pocket.

--------

"That was divine Harry" Nikki told him as she put her knife and fork back on the plate after finishing the last bite of the pasta salad "I never knew you could cook that well"

"Well thank you very much" Harry smiled over his wine glass and Nikki rolled her eyes

"You know what I mean" she sighed exasperatedly and Harry put his wine glass down and reached over to entwine their hands on the table, both of them fitting perfectly within the other "Thank you for cooking"

"Anything for you" Harry told her quietly making Nikki blush and she started to fiddle with her wine glass "How are you? Really"

"I don't know" Nikki shook her head knowing what he was on about and Harry stood up and tugged at her hand to get her to stand as well before leading them into the living room and sitting them on the sofa. Nikki leant into him and Harry wrapped one arm around her shoulders and then entwined their hands again on his lap, absentmindedly playing with a strand of her hair "I thought he had changed, I really did"

"Well you have me and Leo and that's all that matters really" Harry shrugged "Victor has shown that you can't trust him, you tried Nikki you did but he's not going to change"

"I know" Nikki whispered and reached up to wipe her eyes free of tears and took a deep breath "Tell me about your father Harry"

"What do you want to know?" Harry asked as he looked down at her, he wasn't normally comfortably talking about him but this was Nikki, and he'd do anything for her. Nikki just shrugged.

"Everything. You never talk about him"

"It's hard.." Harry started and Nikki looked up at him and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, if you don't want to that's fine"

Harry just smiled and leant down to press a soft kiss onto her lips to reassure her.

"Nikki it's fine" Harry told her "I haven't talked about him in a long time, since I was about ten really"

"Wow, years and years ago then" Nikki giggled and Harry poked her in the ribs making her laugh loudly and jerk away from him.

"Cheeky" he pouted and pulled Nikki closer again and ran one hand over her hair as he observed her "He was the best dad I could have had. Up to the time when he...changed. I only started to notice when I was about eight when he stopped doing the things a dad does, you know helping with homework, taking me to see the planes" Nikki chuckled at this and let Harry continue "taking me to school, he just stopped all of that" he paused and Nikki looked up in time to see him frown "Looking back now I see that it was always dad who did things for me, I have no idea what my mother was doing"

"Oh Harry" Nikki sighed and reached up to place one hand on his cheek and stroked it slightly with her thumb, smiling when Harry leant into her touch and then turned his head to press a kiss onto her palm "I'm sorry"

Harry just shrugged and gave her a sad smile.

"Then one day I came home from school and was told he was dead" Harry continued simply and Nikki saw his eyes glaze over with tears but he turned away and blinked them away.

"It's okay to cry Harry" Nikki told him and moved his head so he was looking at her "I'm not going to think you are any less a man if you do. I know how you men think" she chuckled and Harry gave her a watery laugh before he let out a sob and started to cry. Nikki had to hold herself together as the one man who was always so strong, for her and himself, sobbed like a child in her arms. Nikki wrapped her arms around his shoulders and Harry turned and buried his face in her shoulder, his body shaking as he cried. Nikki reached up, ran one hand repeatedly through his hair and pressed a kiss on the top of his head.

"I'm sorry" Harry whispered after a few minutes but didn't move his head from where it was resting on Nikki's shoulder.

"Don't apologise Harry" Nikki replied "After all the times I've cried in front of you and you've comforted me I think it's about time it was reciprocated" she paused and ran her hand through his hair again "You didn't cry for him back then did you?"

"No" was all Harry said before he let out a loud sigh "What would I do without you Nikki?"

"Wallow in self pity and you'd have no-one to pick on" Nikki replied with a dramatic sigh making Harry chuckle

"It's _you _who pick on _me_" Harry told his best friend as he looked up and moved away from her before reaching up and tucking some hair behind her ear. He then leant over and pressed his lips to hers and pulled her onto his lap before deepening the kiss eagerly.

* * *

**It's the weekend! Should be able to write a lot this weekend because mum is going out and I won't have to battle for the laptop. XP**

**xxx**


	22. Chapter 22

"Do you have to go?" Harry asked Nikki as he sat up in bed and looked across the room at the woman he was addressing. Harry had asked Nikki to stay the night before, just to sleep, and Nikki had readily agreed.

"I have to" Nikki told him and she unbuttoned the shirt that Harry had leant her the night before, she grinned as she watched his reaction as she did so "I have to go home to change before work"

"You have clothes in your locker" Harry reminded her as Nikki threw the shirt onto a chair in the corner of the room and walked over to the bed before leaning over so she was closer to Harry. He knew she was doing it on purpose and swallowed heavily.

"But I need a shower" she whispered and Harry reached up and ran one hand up her bare arm making her shiver slightly

"Have one here" he replied and leant up to kiss her thoroughly, pulling her down onto the bed and rolling them both over as he did so "or let's just not go into work"

"Harry" Nikki moaned as he kissed his way along her collarbone "You are such a bad influence"

"So I've been told" he mumbled into her skin before he let out a breath and moved away from her to lay next to Nikki on the bed. She turned to him before running one hand over his bare chest and giving him a small smile and a nod.

"Thank you"

"For what sweetheart?" he asked and gave her another kiss as she shrugged

"Not wanting to go any further just yet, and being the one to stop. Most other men wouldn't" Nikki told him and Harry reached up, took her hand from his chest and kissed it gently.

"I don't think we should go any further so soon anyway" he told her and Nikki just smiled and nodded before sitting up

"Thank you Harry" she repeated and leant back so he could kiss her "I really am going now"

"Sure you are" Harry laughed and distracted her with another kiss.

------

Nikki tried not to think how the man in front of her on the slab had suffered as she looked down at the black, charred body.

"You okay?" Harry asked her quietly from next to her and she gave a short nod and turned away to look at the case file on the worktop next to her. She then leant her hands either side of the file and let out a loud sigh as she read what was on the paper. Jumping slightly when she felt Harry's arms wrap around her waist she leant her head back against his chest and closed her eyes.

"Someone could see" she told him quietly but she didn't really care "How can someone do that to all these people?"

"Some people..just do bad things" Harry replied and pressed a kiss onto Nikki's forehead "You know that"

"I know I do" Nikki nodded as she turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck "but it's still..." she didn't finish and shook her head as Harry gave her a kind smile and leant down to kiss her.

"It's alright" he whispered soothingly and pressed another kiss onto Nikki's temple. A cough from across the room made them both jump and they turned to see Leo standing with an amused look on his face.

"Um..." was all Harry said and gave Nikki a sheepish look that she returned and then looked back at Leo.

"_Don't _let it affect your work" the older man said and smiled at the pair as Nikki extracted herself from Harry and walked over to Leo before hugging him. Leo chuckled loudly and wrapped his arms around the younger woman as Harry smiled at him and nodded over Nikki's shoulder.

"Thank you" Nikki whispered in Leo's ear and the male pathologist was suddenly struck with the fact that Nikki had wanted his approval, like a daughter wanting her father's approval and his arms tightened around her slightly before Nikki drew away and gave Leo one of her blinding smiles.

"We're doing it properly this time" Harry told Leo as he walked over and entwined his hand with Nikki's.

"He's courting me" Nikki giggled and Leo laughed in amusement as Harry blushed bright red and poked Nikki in the ribs causing her to squeal and move away from him.

"Glad to see you are not rushing into things" Leo nodded "_and_ I'm glad you sorted this out though, you have no idea how long I have wanted to bash your heads together"

-------

Nikki groaned in frustration as she rested her head in her hands. She had been sitting at Harry's desk for the past hour trying to find any sort of connection between all or even just some of their victims, but there was nothing, none of them even shared the same dentist, doctor, hairdresser or anything like that.

"You look exhausted" came a voice from across the room and Nikki looked up to see Harry leaning against the wall staring intently at her "And once again you are at my desk"

"Thank you so much Harry" Nikki told him "and once again does it matter?"

"You are welcome, what am I here for other than to be the source of all the amusement around here"

"Butt of all the jokes more like" Nikki responded quickly and poked her tongue out at her partner as he walked over and dragged the chair from her desk to his and sat down next to her.

"Can I help?" he asked but was already pulling the many folders towards him in an attempt to help Nikki "Were you worried that Leo wouldn't accept us?"

"I don't know" Nikki shrugged and chewed absentmindedly on the end of her pen, completely missing the sharp intake of breath from Harry "I just wanted his approval that's all I suppose"

Harry then reached up and placed one hand on her cheek and Nikki leant into his touch slightly and turned to press a kiss onto his palm.

"Would you have cared if he hadn't?" Harry asked her quietly almost sadly and Nikki shook her head and reached up to grin his hand in hers.

"No" Nikki told him simply and leant over to steal a quick kiss from him before turning back to the folders, their hands still entwined.

* * *

**My Harry and Nikki Sim on Sims 3 have just had a baby boy called Leo! XP..I just couldn't resist again :P**

**xxx**


	23. Chapter 23

"So we've had the two who were shot, one was drowned, one was hanged, one was decapitated and one was burnt" Leo told everyone who was gathered in the layout room, pictures of the bodies up on the interactive screen and the paintings on the table in the middle of the room "and there are no connections what-so-ever between them apart from these" he pointed to the paintings.

"None?" Mumford asked incredulously and turned to Nikki "Are you sure?"

Nikki opened her mouth to snap at the detective but Harry beat her to it.

"If Nikki says there is no connection she can find, then there _is_ _no_ connection that she can find" Harry told Mumford with a pointed look and the other man huffed slightly and turned back to Leo.

"What about evidence? Trace? That sort of stuff"

"None" Leo shook his head "Everything we have found belongs to the various victims"

"For God's sake" Mumford hissed "This has been going on for over a month and a half, nearly two months and we have nothing"

"Well it's not like we haven't been trying" Harry responded tersely and Mumford shot him a frustrated look "He's not making it helpful for us I'm afraid"

-------

"That man just pisses me off" Harry hissed to Nikki as he walked into his kitchen after dinner to see Nikki washing up "What are you doing? I'll do that, it's my house"

"I'm doing it now" Nikki shrugged and Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder "and who?"

"Mumford" Harry replied "He's just so full of himself, if he took his head out of his.."

"Harry" Nikki chided as she interrupted what she knew would be a rant about the detective "Leave him alone"

"A Mumford sympathiser are you?" Harry gasped and reached into the bowel and took a handful of bubbles, a grin on his face "Traitor"

"Harry" Nikki warned and laughed as she tried to get away from him but found his body and arms blocking her way as he reached up and smeared the bubbles onto her face and hair. Nikki giggled loudly and Harry grinned before spluttering as Nikki wiped the bubbles off her face and ran her hand down his own, transferring the bubbles "Now leave me to get on with the washing up"

"No" Harry told her simply and leant down to kiss her, deepening the kiss straight away and pressing Nikki back against the sink, running one hand down her side and up the front of her blouse as he did so "You are so beautiful"

"Are you hoping to get lucky Dr Cunningham?" Nikki grinned at him and Harry just shrugged and shook his head.

"Can't I tell you that you are beautiful without having an ulterior motive?" he asked as he nuzzled her neck and pressed kisses onto the skin there causing Nikki to moan and lean her head back to give him better access.

"Harry" Nikki hissed as she reached up and ran one hand through his hair and gripped his shoulder with the other hand. But Harry broke away then and rested his forehead on hers breathing heavily but with a smirk on his face "What?"

"Nothing" Harry shook his head and moved his hands to her hips to pull her even closer to him "You know I love you"

Nikki's face showed nothing but shock at his words but a grin spread over her face when what he had said sunk in.

"and I love you" she replied and leant up to kiss him before moving away but her smile failed "It's just..I have been let down by so many people, mainly men, in my life and I find it hard to..think about the fact that there is one who is different from the rest"

"Oh Nikki" Harry whispered and Nikki laid her head on his chest and let out a sigh as he reached up and placed one hand on the back of her head and stroked her hair slightly "I'm not like the rest, I promise you. I'll show you. Those people obviously didn't understand how amazing you are and how much they should have valued you"

Harry was then conscious of Nikki shaking in his arms and looked down to see tears running down her face, his heart broke as his grip on her tightened and he leant down to press kisses onto her head trying to sooth her.

"Ssh" he whispered as she started to sob into his chest "It's alright"

"I'm..just..so scared..that..you will..leave me" she cried and gripped his shirt tightly as if she thought that if she let go he would disappear.

"Nikki I have been wanting this for the past five years. I am _not_ going to leave you. I promise" Harry told her forcibly "I love you so much that it hurts to even think about leaving you"

"You've wanted me for that long?" Nikki asked incredulously as she looked up at him, head still on his chest and caught his nod. He reached up with one hand and wiped a few stray tears from Nikki's cheeks with his thumb and leant down to press a kiss onto her lips.

"I have yes" Harry admitted "I knew you were special when you walked through those doors and invaded my desk for the first time"

"Harry that's soppy" Nikki giggled as she hit him on the chest slightly

"But it's the truth" Harry pouted and rubbed her back "anyway I love you and that's all that matters really"

-----

"Do you think he'll stop" Nikki asked as she and Harry lay in bed that evening, she had once again borrowed one of Harry's shirts.

"Mmm?" Harry asked sleepily as his grip on Nikki's waist tightened as he opened his eyes and looked down at the woman laying next to him "Who?"

"Santa" Nikki replied sarcastically and turned her head to look at the man laying behind her "The killer"

"I don't think he will" Harry replied quietly and pulled Nikki closer to him before resting his chin on her shoulder and letting out a sigh which tickled her neck causing her to giggle "Most of them don't do they?"

"Some of them do" Nikki told him and turned over so she was laying on her back, Harry's arm still around her waist before closing her eyes and letting out a contented sigh.

* * *

**Some more fluff for you :D I'm trying to write a few more chapters today but once again various family members keep wandering around while I'm trying to do so and I can't write fanfic while they do it. Grr!**

**xxx**


	24. Chapter 24

The next week passed without any more deceased bodies linked to a painting, and no paintings had turned up at the art store. Instead, they had been getting the' normal' cases, suicides, road traffic accidents and the like and all three pathologists were somewhat thankful for this, the serial killer case was tiring them out.

"So are we going out for drinks tonight?" Harry asked as he wandered into Leo's office where Nikki was sitting on the sofa and Leo lounging on his chair behind the desk "or are you both going to pick up my habit of swigging the ethanol?" he joked and Nikki giggled as Leo chuckled and shook his head. Harry shot them both a grin and sat himself next to Nikki, automatically draping his arm over her shoulder and pulling her close before pressing a kiss onto her temple.

"Well we could go out" Nikki started "or we could go to yours and have drinks" she glanced at Leo for his answer and he just shrugged and nodded "That settles it then"

"Unless you two want to spend it together" Leo added and Nikki frowned at him as she caught the hidden meaning.

"Leo" she chided "You're our friend and we want to spend some time with you, and anyway we haven't actually..." she trailed off and blushed slightly as Leo stole a glance at Harry and then looked back at Nikki.

"Harry's it is then"

-------

Nikki smiled to herself as she stood in the doorway of the living room as Harry flicked through the daily paper absentmindedly, Leo had just left, leaving them both alone. Making a split second decision Nikki walked straight over to him and climbed onto his lap. He raised an amused eyebrow at her over the top of the paper and painstakingly slowly folded it up and threw it on the table next to the sofa, all the while with a smirk on his face, his eyes focused on Nikki's. As soon as the paper left his hands Nikki leant forward and kissed him passionately, both her hands coming up to rest on his face as she deepened the kiss. Harry's hands ran down her sides and rested on her hips before running them up the front of her blouse causing Nikki to moan into his mouth and move her hands to his shoulders. Breaking the kiss for barely even a second Nikki quickly brought her head down to kiss Harry again her hands moving to his shirt and started on the buttons, Harry doing the same with Nikki's blouse. He finished undoing her buttons quickly and tried to push the article of clothing off but was impeded by her arms that were still attached to his own shirt. Pushing her hands away from him he dragged the blouse off and threw it onto the floor and did the same with her bra before kissing his way down her neck and along her collar bone, grinning into her skin as he felt Nikki shiver and let out a low moan. Nikki reached up and ran one hand through Harry's hair encouraging him as he kissed his way down her chest.

"God Harry" Nikki hissed "I need..I.."

"You need what sweetheart?" Harry whispered into her neck as he pressed another kiss there and looked up at her, his eyes completely dilated, his breathing just as ragged as Nikki's.

"I need you" she told him forcibly

"I need you as well" Harry replied simply and leant down to kiss her on the lips but she pushed him away and finished unbuttoning his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders.

"No I _need _you" Nikki moaned as Harry ran one hand up her back and over her chest.

Harry and Nikki practically collapsed into his bedroom and Harry slammed the door behind them with a quick kick before pushing Nikki onto the bed causing her to giggle loudly. Harry climbed onto the bed after her and pushed her down so she was laying and attached himself to her neck again and ran one hand down her naked side to settle on her hip just above her trousers. He then moved away from Nikki and she let out a disappointed moan as he did so.

"Patience my love" Harry laughed and Nikki growled at him causing him to chuckle loudly and slowly unbutton her jeans and pull them off all the time watching her reaction. He threw them on the floor then climbed off the bed, Nikki sat up slightly and leant on her elbows to watch him as he undid his trousers and pushed them to the floor along with his boxers before climbing back onto the bed, a predatory glint in his eyes as he pushed Nikki down again and pressed his lips to hers.

----

Later on they lay curled up in each other's arms, Harry pressing small kisses to Nikki's skin as they did so.

"You're going to have to wear a roll neck to work tomorrow" he informed her with a proud note in his voice and Nikki turned her head to steal a glance at him "I seemed to have claimed you as mine"

It took Nikki a few seconds to realise what he was going on about and reached up to her neck where she was positive there were love bites.

"Caveman" she muttered good naturedly and Harry chuckled against her skin and nodded

"You love it"

"I love you" Nikki responded and shifted slightly against his naked body causing him to take in a small gasp and a grin spread over her face.

"I love you as well you minx" Harry told her before kissing her, one hand straying to her hip then further to settle on her thigh causing Nikki to moan into the kiss "I just can't get enough of you, you are so beautiful and perfect"

Nikki sighed contentedly when he said this and turned her back on him allowing him to move behind her and wrap one arm around her waist. He pressed small kisses on her shoulder before pulling her even closer to him and closing his eyes.

-----

"Nikki" Harry whispered to his lover the next morning as the sun filtered through the curtains. The blonde woman just moaned and buried her face into her pillow and moved down the bed further causing Harry to chuckle "Nikki wake up"

"Go away" Nikki muttered and reached behind her and blindly swatted at him "I'm sleeping"

"No you're not" Harry stated and rolled her over so she was laying on her back "I know something that will wake you up" he told her suggestively and Nikki giggled in spite of herself.

"Is that all you think about?" she asked him and Harry pouted slightly and leant forward for a kiss "Morning handsome"

"Morning beautiful"

"So how were you thinking of waking me up?" Nikki enquired innocently but Harry could see a spark in her eyes as he raised an eyebrow.

-----

"I haven't seen you in a while" Harry told Nikki as he wandered into the locker room to see her standing in just her bra and trousers, his love bites obvious on her neck and chest making him swell with pride "and I don't think I like the fact that someone else could walk in and see you like this"

"Are you jealous Dr Cunningham?" Nikki asked coyly as she pulled her t-shirt over her head and closed her locker "I'm sure they could see that I am taken" she motioned to the marks on her neck that were clearly visible over the neckline of her t-shirt.

"Jealous?" Harry asked as he walked over to her with a smirk on his face and his heart thumped in his chest when he saw her back herself into the lockers and reach up to pull the clip from her hair letting it fall down her back in waves "That someone else other than me sees you half naked?" he rested his hands either side of her on the lockers and heard her breathing quicken "I'm not a jealous man Nikki" he was quite obviously lying as Nikki chuckled.

"Liar" Nikki whispered "You do get jealous, even the thought of another man touching me makes your blood boil"

Harry knew what Nikki was trying to do but felt himself rising to the bait all the same.

"I thought you had trouble with men being possessive" he muttered as he pressed his lips softly, teasingly onto her neck.

"Not you" Nikki replied as she reached up with one hand and ran it through Harry's hair "I have to go autopsy" she told him suddenly and pushed him away with a smirk on her face "I'll see you later"

She then sauntered out of the room leaving a frustrated and aroused Harry behind her.

* * *

**33 days until Christmas! :D Anyone got any ideas of a Christmas fic I could write? :P**

**xxx**


	25. Chapter 25

Nikki smiled to herself as she heard the cutting room door open behind her, in all truth there wasn't an autopsy to do, especially since she and Harry were staying late and Leo had already gone home. Feeling Harry's arms wrap around her waist and leant back into him and let out a loud breath as she felt his arousal pressed against her.

"Minx" he whispered into her ear

-------

"So maybe he's bored of the game he's playing and has stopped" Mumford said the next day as they gathered in the layout room "Or he's run out of creativity"

"I wouldn't be so hopeful" Leo shook his head "They don't just stop"

Mumford let out a frustrated sigh and Harry glared at the man who was getting on his nerves, the detective just didn't understand sometimes. Just then a very flustered Mays rushed into the room carrying a clear evidence bag with a canvas in and placed it on the table in front of them.

"This was delivered last night" he told them and Harry cocked his head to one side to look at the painting through the bag and felt Nikki walk over and stand next to him as well, their elbows touching.

"What is it?" she asked slowly as she tried to make out what the brown coloured leaf like object was in the painting "I can't..." she stopped as she realised what it was and leant forward slightly to get a better view. What had looked to her like a leaf had now been focussed enough in her mind for her to make sense of it. It was a person. An extremely thin person with scraggly grey hair down to his neck and a beard to match, every single one of his ribs could be seen with precision on the canvas and he was stretched out with a look of horror and fear, forever mounted in the picture.

"Hold on" Nikki said suddenly as her mouth caught up with her brain "I've seen..hold on" she repeated before walking behind Harry and out of the room. The men exchanged confused looks and Harry shrugged slightly before Nikki walked back in holding a folder in her hand "Here we go, two days ago an obviously homeless man came into the morgue, autopsy revealed that he had starved to death"

"Are you sure he was homeless in the first place?" Mays asked and Nikki nodded

"Definite signs that he had been homeless a long time" she replied and leant on the table to glance at the painting again.

"So..." Mumford said slowly "He abducts a homeless man off the street and lets him starve to death just so he can do this sick art thing he has going on"

"I suppose it would be quicker than starving a normal healthy person" Harry shrugged causing Nikki and Leo to agree.

-----

"I've been thinking" Harry said later that evening when Nikki was sitting at the table in the living room with all the case files spread in front of her.

"Mmm" Nikki replied noncommittally as he walked over to her "That's pretty dangerous don't you think"

"Oh you crack me up" Harry told her dryly before frowning and picking Nikki up in his arms and sat down on her chair with her on his lap causing her to laugh and slap him on the chest.

"Harry I'm..." she was cut off by his lips on hers "meant to be.."

"I think we should get married" Harry told her simply and Nikki opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out.

"I'm sorry?" she asked after a few seconds "You want...you want to marry me?"

"I mean we don't have to get married straight away but I love you and it would be nice to introduce you as my fiancé or my wife instead of just..."

Nikki reached up and kissed him fully on the lips and ran one hand through his hair as she allowed him to deepen the kiss straight away.

"I would love to marry you Harry" she told him when she broke away and the grin that crossed Harry's face made her heart flutter in her chest "But now I have to get on with this" she waved her hand in the general direction of the case files as Harry attached himself to her neck and pressed kisses on the skin.

"Well I'm not stopping you" he mumbled as he ran one hand up the front of her jumper, smiling into her neck when he felt her shiver and move closer to him "but I really think you should come to bed"

"After this" Nikki squirmed against him as Harry's hand moved to her back and undid her bra with one hand before pulling her jumper off her head and throwing the bra down onto the floor as well. Nikki turned around and pressed herself against Harry as she kissed him passionately "You..can tell..Leo..why I didn't..get..my work done" she told him through the kiss and Harry just grinned and stood up with her in his arms.

---

"You didn't say yes just to humour me did you?" Harry asked later on as he traced random patterns on Nikki's arm that was slung over his stomach.

"Of course I didn't" Nikki replied sleepily "I love you and I want to marry you"

"Good because I love you" Harry told her and ran one hand through her messy hair.

----

"Can we not tell anyone yet?" Nikki asked the next day as she stood in Harry's bedroom dressed in only his dressing gown that she had claimed as hers "I just want it to be us two for now, so we can have time together without everyone giving us those looks and..."

"Nikki they don't even know we're dating" Harry replied as he walked back into the bedroom wearing only his trousers, hair and chest still wet from his shower "Leo's the only one who knows"

"But can't we keep it to ourselves for a little bit longer?"

"Of course we can sweetheart" Harry smiled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. Nikki sighed and rested her head on his chest before closing her eyes, a small smile on her face. "and anyway I need to buy you a ring, I know which one I'm getting anyway"

"Harry it better not be too expensive" Nikki warned "I'm not worth..."

She was cut off by Harry placing a finger on her lips and frowning at her.

"Nothing is too expensive for you and I don't want to hear you say you're not worth anything, okay?" he told her seriously and Nikki nodded and pressed a kiss onto his finger causing him to smile and lean down to steal another one.

"You keep on like that Dr Cunningham and we'll be late for work" Nikki told him coyly as she looped her arms around his neck causing the dressing gown to fall open slightly and it was only just then that Harry realised Nikki was naked underneath it. He pressed his lips to hers and pushed the dressing gown off her shoulders, Nikki moved her arms long enough for it to fall to the ground then wrapped them back around Harry's neck as he ran one hand up her back and pulled her closer to him.

* * *

**Another apology: sorry I haven't updated. I've been ill and schools been a bitch.**

**xxx**


	26. Chapter 26

**There's some semi graphic sex in this chapter so be warned :D**

* * *

I couldn't help the grin that spread over my face as I pushed the large wooden doors open and stepped into the warm inviting space out of the cold. My grip on the rucksack in my hand tightened as I saw the man at the front of the room and I cocked my head to one side as I observed him for a few seconds before I closed the door behind me and slowly made my way up the aisle. The man turned to me and gave me a warm inviting smile and a nod of the head before standing up and making his way over to me.

"How can I help you?" he asked kindly

"Found anything?" Harry asked Nikki when he walked into the layout room to see his fiancé leant over to table looking at the case files spread over the desk.

"No" Nikki replied without looking up from them "and I would have done this by now if you would have let me do it last night" she shot him a pointed look but Harry just grinned and shrugged

"But which was more exciting?" he asked as he leant his hands on the table opposite her "Pouring over these" he motioned to the files "or making..."

Nikki's phone rang suddenly, interrupting whatever Harry was going to say and Nikki gave him a triumphant grin as she answered the phone. Her grin faded however when she heard who was on the other end.

"I don't want to hear it" she snapped before hanging up on the person and taking a deep breath. Harry frowned and walked around the table so he was standing behind her, he rested his hands on her sides and pressed a kiss onto her neck.

"Who was it?" he asked softly and Nikki let out a shaky breath and shook her head, Harry could tell she was fighting the urge to cry "Nikki?"

"My father" she choked out and turned in his arms and rested her head on his chest, reaching up to grip his jumper in her fists as if afraid he would disappear if she didn't. Harry wrapped his arms around her back and pressed a kiss to the top of her head "He said something about meeting up to apologise but I couldn't..."

"It's alright you don't have to" Harry told her quietly "Not if you don't want to"

"Why is he such a useless waist of space?" Nikki sniffed and Harry ran one hand over her hair and shrugged slightly.

"I'm afraid I can't answer that beautiful"

Before Nikki could say anything else the door opened and Leo walked into the room. He looked from Harry to a tearful Nikki in his arms and frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly

"My father" Nikki replied stiffly and reached up to wipe her face as Leo made a noise of acknowledgement at what she meant.

"Do you want one of us to talk to him?" Leo enquired as he motioned from himself to Harry "We would if you wanted us too"

Nikki smiled gratefully at him and looked up at Harry who nodded in confirmation before she looked back at Leo.

"Thank you" she nodded "I wouldn't normally but...I'm just sick of him using me all the time"

"Next time he calls you arrange to meet and one or both of us will come with you okay?" Harry asked Nikki and she smiled at him.

"Thank you" she repeated and moved away from her lover to look at the case files on the table and to tell Leo what she had, or hadn't in this case, found.

-------

"Ah there you are" Harry said as he walked into the bathroom to see Nikki running a bath, she was dressed only in a towel and was sitting on the edge of the bath. Looking up at him she gave him a coy smile and moved her hand away from the top of the towel letting it slip down her chest slightly. Harry swallowed heavily and his eyes roamed down her body before returning to her face and giving her a grin "I was just wondering if you would...um..you know.." he was suddenly nervous, he had planned this in his head all day "Move in with me"

Nikki laughed loudly when she heard this and Harry didn't know whether to be upset or putout when hearing her reaction.

"You.." she managed to get out through her laughter "You manage to propose to me without as much of a stutter yet when you ask me to move in with you, you are so nervous"

Harry blushed slightly and shrugged, trying to ignore the way the towel hitched up Nikki's thigh slightly when she moved. Standing up Nikki made her way over to Harry and leant up to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she did so, this however meant letting go of the towel which slipped down even more and Harry took that opportunity to quickly undo the loose knot Nikki had tied on it and let it drop to the floor.

"Oops" he grinned before capturing her lips with his.

---

"You didn't answer my question" Harry said later on when he once again walked into the bathroom where Nikki was just getting out of the bath, he himself only wearing his trousers. He couldn't ignore the fact that his fiancé was completely naked and dripping wet in front of him and his eyes wandered down her body as she rolled her eyes and grabbed a towel from the side. "Did you have to do that?" he asked as she wrapped it around herself and Nikki giggled and slapped him on the chest as she walked past him.

"You better not be avoiding the question Dr Alexander" Harry warned her as he followed her into the bedroom and wrapped his arms around her waist before kissing his way down her neck and along her shoulder trying to untie the towel again as he did so.

"God you're insatiable" Nikki laughed loudly as she squirmed away from him but Harry laughed and held her tightly against him "and yes I will move in with you"

"Good" Harry breathed against her neck and managed to untie the towel and drop it to the floor before pushing Nikki back onto the bed and leaning over her, capturing her lips with his. He ran one hand down her side and rested it on her thigh, grinning into the kiss as she moaned and tried to move closer to him but he pushed her back down onto the bed and proceeded to kiss down her neck and chest. Nikki reached down to try and push his trousers off but Harry was having none of that and grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head as he kissed her on the lips causing her to moan loudly and struggle against him.

"Harry.." she breathed as she tried to reach down again to get his trousers off but he chuckled against her skin as he moved her hands away again and pinned them above her head. He grinned as he looked down at her and once again attached himself to her neck.

"Patience my love" he told her as he released her hands and gave her one of his heart melting smiles "Or do I have to do something about those wandering hands?"

"Harry" Nikki moaned as she realised what he meant and reached up to grip his shoulders tightly to pull him closer to her "Please.."

"Please what?" Harry asked softly as he stroked her thigh with his thumb making Nikki draw in a breath before he moved away and pulled off his trousers and boxers.

"Please I need you" Nikki found herself begging and Harry grinned down at her before kissing her again. Nikki had had enough of his teasing and wrapped her legs around him before pulling him closer once again and proceeded to whisper in his ear what she wanted him to do to her making him shiver in anticipation. He then lowered himself into her causing them both to moan, Nikki arching into him, her nails digging into his shoulders. Harry grabbed her hands in his and held them above her head and was about to move when the phone rang.

"No" Nikki hissed into Harry's ear and he didn't need telling as he began to move inside her making her moan and throw her head back against the pillow, both of them breathing raggedly, the small moans that were coming from Nikki making Harry push her hands harder into the bed and attach himself to her neck. However the phone kept ringing and they tried to ignore it again as Nikki extracted her hands from his and wrapped them around his neck, moving herself closer to him and burying her face in his neck as Harry's hands wrapped around her back to pull her into him. Nikki then wrapped her legs tighter around Harry's waist and drew him further into her.

"Harry yes" she moaned as she leant her head back, both of them suddenly conscious that the phone had stopped ringing. Harry groaned into her neck as she ran her hands down his back scraping her nails along the skin. It was only after Nikki screamed his name did he let himself go and he moaned her name loudly into her neck. They lay like that for a while, Harry still on top of Nikki, neither of them wanting to move, both of them breathing heavily, Harry with his head on Nikki's chest and Nikki fiddling with a piece of his damp hair.

"Do you want children Nikki?" Harry asked quietly after a few more minutes and he felt Nikki's heartbeat quicken slightly after he said this.

"Mmm" was all Nikki said and Harry shook his head as he propped himself up on his elbows and then moved to lay next to her causing Nikki to moan and attempt to cuddle up to him again. Harry chuckled and lifted his arm up so she could lay her head on his chest and draped it over her shoulders.

"That wasn't an answer"

"Yes I do" Nikki replied sleepily and tightened her grip on Harry

"Good" was all Harry got out before the phone rang again and he sighed before reaching over and picking it up from the bedside table "Hello"

"_Dr Cunningham I called you fifteen minutes ago" _came Mumford's voice down the phone and Nikki looked up and giggled quietly when she heard this _"I called your freaking mobile as well, what the hell were you doing?"_

"Having excellent sex with my fiancé" Harry snapped back and Nikki laughed loudly and blushed as Harry rolled his eyes "So I am sorry if I didn't answer, unless you wanted to hear it. I'm sure we can repeat it just for you"

Nikki had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing even louder than before and hid her mouth behind her hand to try and hide the snort that she couldn't stifle. Harry reached down with his free hand and ran a stray piece of Nikki's hair through his fingers while Mumford spluttered on the other end of the phone.

"_We need you at St Saviours Church on Newgate Road" _the detective finally said, obviously disbelieving that Harry had a fiancé _"There's..it's bad"_

"I'll be right there" Harry replied and sat up slightly, Nikki sighed and moved away from him and propped herself up on the headboard, not bothering to cover herself with the duvet that she only pulled up to her waist. Harry hung up the phone and leant over to kiss Nikki on the lips "I'm sorry"

"It's fine" Nikki replied and ran one hand through his hair "Have fun with Mumford won't you?"

"I'm sorry I told him that I have a fiancé" Harry told her as he climbed out of bed and reached down for his trousers.

"He's either not going to believe you or it will be spread around the station and the lab before you are even at the scene" Nikki laughed as she moved some of her hair from her face "My bet is on the latter"

"So is mine" Harry mumbled.

* * *

**Today has been the only day out of the days I've been off school that I could actually focus enough to write some proper chapters, so sorry I haven't been uploading while I've been ill.**

**xxx**


	27. Chapter 27

The first thing that struck Harry when he walked into the church was how quiet it was in there despite all the police and forensics hanging around and the crowd already gathering outside. The second thing was the steady drip drip drip that echoed loudly in the room.

"Dr Cunningham" came Mumford's voice from next to him and he found that the detective couldn't quite look him in the eye, this pleased Harry "This way please"

Harry then followed Mumford up the church isle not missing any of the knowing looks that the other police and forensics gave him as he walked past. He inwardly rolled his eyes, knowing that Nikki would get a kick out of this.

"Congratulations are in order first of all" Mumford said as he glanced in Harry's direction "Is she pregnant?"

"Excuse me?" Harry asked incredulously and smirked slightly at the man in front of him, wanting nothing more than to reveal who his fiancé exactly was.

"Your fiancé is she pregnant?" Mumford asked again

"No" Harry replied simply, the urge to thump the man in front of him becoming very strong 'Not yet anyway' he added in his head, he then realised that he and Nikki hadn't finished their conversation from earlier and vowed he would as soon as he got home.

"Well as I said it's not very nice" Mumford motioned to the body in front of them and Harry felt his eyes widen as he looked up at it. Suspended above the altar at the front of the church was a completely naked man, blood had dripped from the body and had coated the white altar cover in red splashed. He had been crucified. He had been stripped naked, nailed to a cross and suspended above the altar.

"Bloody hell" Harry whispered.

When Harry got home a few hours later he wasn't at all surprised to see Nikki asleep. He had transported the body to the morgue and allowed forensics to be done on the body and the wooden cross. The body had then been taken off the cross but that was it. Harry took off his clothes and put his baggy tracksuit bottoms and top on before climbing into the bed next to Nikki and turning the light off, he then wrapped one arm around Nikki's waist, pulling her closer to him before nuzzling his face into her neck and closing his eyes.

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When Harry woke the next morning he was conscious that he was alone in the bed. He reached out blindly to where Nikki should have been laying and found only empty sheets. Opening his eyes slightly he let out a groan and covered them with one hand before sitting up and sliding out of bed. He popped his head around the bathroom door to see if Nikki was in there but then his nose caught a whiff of freshly brewed coffee coming from downstairs.

"Good morning" he said cheerfully as he walked into the kitchen to see Nikki wrapped in his dressing gown, her hair still messy from sleep. She turned around from where she was looking at the calendar on the fridge and gave him a beaming smile before he leant down and kissed her.

"Morning" she replied "What time did you get back?"

"About twelve thirty. Three of those hours were spent in the presence of Mumford" Harry muttered and Nikki laughed and ran one hand through his hair as he pouted "He asked if you were pregnant"

"Excuse me?"

"Well he asked if my fiancé was pregnant" Harry amended "Cheeky sod"

Nikki giggled loudly and looped her arms around his neck before kissing him again.

"Do you want me to be?" Nikki asked quietly and Harry reached up to rest one hand on her cheek and stroked it gently with his thumb.

"More than anything" he whispered and his heart jumped when Nikki beamed at him and something struck him "_Are_ you pregnant?"

"Not that I know of" Nikki replied slowly and then shrugged "I suppose I could be considering all the sex we've been having and the fact we've never used protection" she looked at Harry for his reaction and saw a smile spread over his face "You're taking this well, I thought you would be horrified"

"Horrified?" Harry repeated and laughed "Why?"

"Well we've only been dating a short time and we're already getting married. Most other men would be terrified by now"

"Well I am not other men am I?" he paused and frowned "If you are, there isn't any chance it could be _his_ is there?"

Nikki knew who he meant but she only laughed and shook her head.

"No you silly man. I would defiantly know if I was pregnant by now if I was pregnant by Horatio and anyway there is one sure way that I know I'm not"

"Really? How?" Harry asked and Nikki giggled at the look of confusion on his face.

"Men" she sighed as she shook her head and moved away from him to pour out their coffees "What was so urgent about the case last night? Is it him again?"

"I'm afraid so" Harry nodded as he seated himself at the kitchen table and smiled at his fiancé when she placed a mug in front of him then sat on another of the chairs clutching a mug between her hands "A priest was crucified in his own church"

Nikki winced slightly when she heard this and shook her head before taking a sip of her still scalding coffee.

"Are you sure it's him?"

"Looks that way" Harry nodded and reached over the table to entwine their hands running his thumb over the surface of Nikki's "If you're not pregnant already can we try for a baby?" he asked suddenly and Nikki was taken aback by the change of subject but she smiled and nodded.

"Of course we can" she replied "But..."

Harry waited for a few seconds for Nikki to continue but when she didn't he spoke.

"But?"

"What if people only think you proposed because I was pregnant?" Nikki asked quietly and Harry leant over and pressed a kiss onto her lips.

"Who cares what anyone else thinks?" he enquired softly and Nikki just nodded before laughing and kissing Harry again "I love you"

"and I love you" Nikki replied "Now you have to get ready for work"

"Do I have to?" Harry whined as he spotted that the dressing gown Nikki was wearing had slipped down and had revealed that she was wearing nothing underneath. His hands snaked over and tugged the belt away so the garment fell open leaving Harry with the glorious sight of his naked lover. Nikki giggled as she slapped the hand that had wandered over her chest away from her and stood up, not bothering to tie the dressing gown up.

"You are the most insatiable man I have ever met" she told him as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck.

"Yes but I bet no other man has ever made you scream like I do" he whispered into her ear before pressing a kiss onto her shoulder and walking out of the room "I'm going for a shower by the way" he called over his shoulder.

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"So this rumour I'm hearing around the lab is it true?" Leo asked Harry as they and Nikki sat in his office that afternoon "That you're getting married"

Harry glanced out of the office door and saw some lab techs hanging around in the lab so he closed the door and turned back to Leo.

"It's true" he said simply and Nikki reached up and slid her hand into his. Harry gripped it tightly and gave her a smile before they both looked at Leo for his reaction. Which was nothing but shock. "I mean we don't have to get married yet, we just want to show everyone, including ourselves, that we are in a serious relationship. And I want to show that Nikki is mine just to stop any other man trying to claim her"

"Harry" Nikki groaned as Leo gave out a weak chuckle.

"The next thing you're going to tell me is that you're trying for a baby" Leo joked and Harry and Nikki exchanged a look before glancing back at Leo who had gone extremely pale.

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**Only one more chapter left..which I might upload now..or I might not ;)**

**xxx**


	28. Chapter 28

"You _are_ trying for a baby?" Leo asked and it was Harry who nodded slightly, gripping Nikki's hand tightly.

"Well when I say 'trying' we mean..." Harry started but Leo beat him to it.

"Have you two thought about this _at all_?" he asked loudly making them both jump as he stood up and shook his head "A few months ago you were at each other's throats and now you are getting married and trying for a baby"

"Leo" Nikki chided "We're not getting married straight away, we might not even get married for a few years but we..."

"You are rushing into this too quickly" Leo shouted "In a few weeks you'll be on to your next partner"

"Leo" Harry said loudly as Nikki's face fell as she heard the implication of what Leo was saying "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"And like you have a brilliant track record with women" Leo shot at Harry who glanced at Nikki to see her eyes filling with tears and her bottom lip trembling. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder as she bit her lip but she shook him off and let out a small sob.

"You're such a bastard Leo" she whispered before she turned around and rushed out of the room, tears running down her face. Harry then turned to the older man and shook his head before following his lover out of the room.

"Nikki come here" Harry said quietly as he walked into the family room to see her leaning on the wall opposite, her back to him, her body shaking with sobs "Come on" he soothed as he gathered her into his arms and let her cry against his chest. He gently rubbed her back and held her tightly against him her body shaking violently.

"How..how could he..I thought he.." Nikki sobbed into his shirt as she clutched onto him "I thought he..the only one..understand"

"I know" Harry replied as he ran one hand over her hair "I know"

"How the hell could you be such a bastard?" Harry yelled at Leo as he stormed into his office after leaving Nikki, with a lot of persuasion, in the women's toilets to sort herself out "Why in the name of bloody hell did you have to go and do that? Can't you see we are happy?"

"You're rushing into things" Leo shouted back "I know you both, neither of you are ones for keeping partners are you?"

"How dare you" Harry hissed and motioned violently in the direction of the lab "You can say that about me by all means but don't you _dare_ say anything like that about Nikki. It's not her fault. She's been let down my so many men in her life that she doesn't think she is worth anything, I want to be the man who shows her that she is my _everything_"

"So that is the only reason you proposed to her and are trying for a baby"

"No" Harry shouted and threw his hands up in the air in frustration "I proposed to her because I love her God damn it Leo, and we are trying for a baby because we want a family together. We're not in the dark ages any more Leo, we don't have to be married to have a baby. We might have two or three children together before we get married and you can't stop us"

"I don't want to see her get hurt" Leo whispered as Harry turned to grip the door handle.

"Leo you called her a slut" Harry told Leo calmly "She told me that she would never have imagined the man she thought of as a father calling her that"

He yanked the door open and missed the distraught look on Leo's face as he marched across the lab.

Harry avoided Leo for the rest of the day and focussed all of his time on the crucified priest, trying to find some connection to the other victims as a painting hadn't shown up. Nikki had gone home at lunch with her work and hadn't returned but had sent a few texts to Harry to tell him that she was alright and that he shouldn't worry, this didn't stop him though. He got home at around six that evening but couldn't find Nikki anywhere downstairs, he tugged off his coat and threw it over a chair in the kitchen as he popped his head through then walked upstairs calling her name. He found her curled up on the bed with a blank look on her face, chewing on her bottom lip.

"Nikki?" he asked softly but she didn't respond. He then climbed onto the bed next to her, wrapped one arm around her shoulders, and pulled her close to him, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"Do you still want to marry me?" she asked quietly after a few minutes

"Of course I do" Harry replied "What makes you.."

"Do you still want a baby with me?"

"I want lots of children with you, not just one" Harry told her and gripped her tightly in his arms "I love you Nikki Alexander and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and if the rest of that life means raising, I dunno, ten children then so be it"

Nikki giggled slightly and reached up to wipe her face free of tears before looking up at him.

"Ten children?" she asked and Harry shrugged slightly and leant down to kiss her "Let's start with one yes?"

"I suppose that's a start yes" Harry joked and kissed her again.

Nikki laughed and Harry pushed her down onto the bed and proceeded to kiss her senseless. He broke the kiss long enough to get her bra and jumper off but then attached himself to her lips again and ran one hand down her side before moving it up to her chest causing Nikki to moan into his mouth. Nikki then pushed him away slightly and unbuttoned his shirt before dropping it to the floor and then flipped them both over so she was lying on Harry instead. She giggled at the shocked look on his face and kissed her way down his chest before undoing the belt on his jeans and pulling them off, these went on the floor as well, followed closely by his boxers.

"Nikki" Harry moaned as he tried to reach down to her own trousers but Nikki laughed and shook her head before leaving down and kissing him again, rubbing herself up against him causing Harry to gasp and let out a low moan. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her down onto him and started to kiss her neck "Stop..teasing me" he hissed out and Nikki giggled before reaching down and wrapping her hand around him causing Harry's eyes to close and his breathing become more ragged "Nikki..please"

"Yes?" Nikki asked innocently as she removed her hand and Harry groaned at the loss of contact but she reached down and pulled off her own jeans and underwear and Harry's hands moved to her hips as she climbed on him again and kissed him. Harry arched up to try and meet her but Nikki giggled and shook her head "Not yet" she whispered into his ear and Harry's breathing quickened as he moaned in frustration "I think you should learn some control Dr Cunningham"

"I..have no..control when it..comes to..you" he breathed into her ear as her hair ticked his chest when she kissed his neck. Harry then wrapped his arms around her back just as Nikki lowered herself onto him causing them both to let out low moans. Nikki buried her face in Harry's neck as she started to move and the whimpers that she made caused Harry grip her tighter to him and arch up into her causing Nikki to moan even louder. "Nikki.." Harry whispered as all coherent thought flew from his brain. She leant her hands either side of his head before looking down at him with a predatory look in her eyes, her long hair framing her face as she grinned at him. Harry ran his hands up her sides and over her chest before setting on her shoulders and bringing her down to lay on top of him, both their breathing uneven, their hearts beating rapidly. Nikki whimpered as his hands skimmed her chest again and he felt her clench around him before she shuddered on top of him and call out his name into his neck before he felt her teeth sink into his shoulder. This made him lose control and he gripped her hips tightly pulling her down on him as he too yelled out her name. "God Nikki..you..."

Their breathing still uneven they lay like that for a few more seconds before Nikki glanced up at him sheepishly then down at his shoulder where there was a bite mark.

"I didn't..know..you were a biter" Harry whispered as he ran one hand up her back and tugged the duvet over their still joined bodies.

"I've never done it before" Nikki blushed as she pressed a kiss onto the mark, which she was suddenly quite proud of.

"Well it must have been me giving you this fantastic sex" Harry joked and Nikki giggled as she slapped him on the chest.

"Fantastic sex?" she asked with a frown on her face as she ran her hand across his chest "When was this then?"

"I'll show you then you cheeky minx" Harry growled before he flipped them over causing Nikki to squeal loudly before Harry's lips descended on hers.

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I looked around my art shop one last time before I closed the door and placed the box on the doorstep. I then locked the door behind me and dropped the keys down the nearest drain before wrapping my coat around me and picking up my briefcase and walking down the street. I had to escape this city, I lost my inspiration with it, maybe I would return in a few months with new inspiration but for now I had a plane to catch.

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**Voila! All finished...but..sequal? I dunno...do you want one? I thought I'd leave it ambiguous with who the killer is and maybe he/she will come back in a sequal.**

**xxx**


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